Take Me Home
by Reader115
Summary: Home Series - Part II - "We're going to see them today," Lance said in a continued whisper. Keith's ears flicked towards him, as much an indication that Keith was listening that Lance was likely to receive this early in the morning. - A sequel to the story "Make Me Your Home", in which the paladins get to return to Earth for a visit. Keith/Lance
1. Chapter 1

"Lance," Keith grumbled. He kept his eyes pressed shut and burrowed his face deeper into Lance's shoulder.

 _Lance's practically vibrating shoulder._

"Lance," Keith murmured again. "It's so early."

But Lance continued to fidget in their bed due to what Keith knew to be pure excitement. He felt Lance's fingers dive into his hair, although instead of moving in the soothing manner Keith was used to when Lance was trying to help him sleep, those long fingers were all over the place, combing through the strands before rubbing briskly over his ears and then diving back into his hair again.

The frantic movements weren't enough to keep Keith from sighing in happiness at the attention, however. And when it was clear that he wasn't budging despite the attempt to wake him up, he did his best to keep his smile to himself as he heard Lance sigh impatiently beneath him.

"Baaabe," Lance whispered in his next attempt to get Keith up and moving.

Keith finally decided to relent by lifting his head and digging his chin into Lance's shoulder as he let his eyes roam over Lance's eager face.

Lance shifted his shoulder under the pressure of Keith's punishing chin, but he didn't push him off. If anything, the arm he had slung around Keith's lower back tightened as he met Keith's eyes.

"We're going to see them today," Lance said in a continued whisper. Keith's ears flicked towards him, as much an indication that Keith was listening that Lance was likely to receive this early in the morning. "I just keep thinking about what it's going to be like to finally go home. I know I said I wanted parades before, but — really I just want to sit down at the dinner table and stare at their faces."

"I'm sure you'll get a chance to do that."

"Pidge says we've been gone a little over two years by now," Lance continued, a small frown forming on his face as he spoke. "I wouldn't think my parents or even Gabby or Mark would look that different. But Theo was just a freshman when I left, so he's probably gotten taller, right?"

When Lance glanced over at his face, Keith could only helplessly shrug before he added "Probably."

"Yeah." Lance nodded slowly.

His fingers began to slowly slide up and down Keith's bare back and Keith pressed himself even closer to the blue paladin, sure that Lance – with that faraway look in his eyes – wasn't even aware of the way Keith's skin was beginning to burn beneath those long fingers.

"And Rosie was only thirteen," Lance continued. "The rest of us were always the tallest in our classes, but Rosie was always so small. She even still had some baby fat in her face, you know?"

A small smile formed on Keith's face as he watched Lance talk about his family. And when Lance glanced at him again, he shifted himself forward so he could reach Lance's lips with his own. Lance slid his own eyes shut and stilled his fidgeting for as long as the kiss lasted.

"I'm glad you're gonna be there," Lance whispered as soon as his mouth was free.

"I'm happy you want me to meet them," Keith murmured back as he let his head fall back to rest against Lance's shoulder.

"Hey, Keith?"

Keith's eyes were shut again, but he hummed in response.

"Do you think – I mean, I know you don't know them yet, but do you think they missed me?"

Keith's eyebrows furrowed together in a confused frown before his eyes even had a chance to reopen. He lifted his head properly and met Lance's gaze directly as one of his hands slid up to cup the side of Lance's face.

"Of course they missed you, Lance. Probably even more than you missed them."

"Yeah," Lance responded softly, and it hurt Keith's chest to see that Lance didn't look entirely convinced.

"Lance, I'm certain that anyone who's _ever_ met you is missing you right now. Hell, sometimes I miss you when you leave to go to the bathroom."

Lance huffed out a small laugh and shook his head. "How about when we're in our separate lions?" he teased back.

"Nah, I can always feel you there."

"Yeah," Lance said, squeezing his arms around Keith again. "Same."

Keith was happy to note that Lance didn't look as lost as he had a few moments before. And that being the case, he grinned wickedly down at his boyfriend.

"What?" Lance asked when he caught Keith's mischievous expression.

"I bet Pidge and Hunk are both missing you this very second."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay," he said to his sarcastic boyfriend.

"I bet Iverson is missing you right now, too."

Lance made a face. "Stooop! I get it." He shoved Keith's shoulder and rolled away with the intention of climbing out of their bed.

But Keith lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Lance's narrow waist. He dragged Lance back to sit in the middle of the bed, ignoring Lance's flailing arms as he pressed himself against the warm skin of Lance's back.

"Don't go. I'll miss you."

Lance sort of wanted to be proud, sure that it was his influence that produced the dramatic tone of voice Keith was managing to pull off. And he even tried to stifle his chuckles, if only so he could appear indignant for a few more moments. But he knew there was actually no way he was hiding his silent laughter with the way his shoulders were shaking from the jackass who was currently melded against his back.

He tipped his head back to try to catch Keith's face, but all he could manage to see was the tip of one purple ear. "I really love you," he murmured with a happy smile on his face.

Keith began to purr. Lance's smile grew.

* * *

They were finishing a meal with Hunk, Pidge, and Matt when Coran's voice reached them through the intercom and asked that everyone meet on the bridge.

Keith could visibly see Lance freeze next to him and he grabbed his hand as they stood and began to make their way up to the main control room. Keith wasn't sure what could cause Coran to sound so tense, but he could feel the worry roll off everyone around him that their trip home today was about to be delayed due to some new universal crisis.

Still, they entered the room ready to face whatever the universe had waiting for them. And what they appeared to walk in on was a meeting between Allura, Shiro, and a holoscreen filled with a Brady Bunch-like visual of several of the leaders who had joined Voltron's alliance over the past few months.

Keith felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he saw the leaders' expressions — mixes of frustration and outright concern — and listened to their murmured grumbles. His hold on Lance's hand tightened when he realized he could practically hear Lance's brain trying to determine what was going on.

"Ah," Allura said as soon as she spotted them. "As you can see, the rest of the paladins are here and we must continue with our daily plans. We will further discuss this at our next alliance meeting in five spicolian movements."

The leaders all said their goodbyes, and Allura waited for the hologram to shut down before she breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the paladins with a bright, unconcerned smile.

"How is everyone today?" Allura asked. "Excited?"

There was a short, stunned silence from the group that had just been summoned.

"Wait, were we just called in here to be used as an excuse for you to get off the phone faster?" Hunk asked.

"Well," Allura said with a small, guilty grin.

Lance laughed next to Keith as his shoulders slumped in relief. And Keith also found himself relieved to find that the castle wasn't actually under attack, nor were they about to abort their trip to Earth due to a new distress call.

"My mom used to do that," Lance said with a grin. "She'd say the little kids were getting into trouble so she could hang up the phone, even though Theo and Rosie would be sitting quietly next to her, being perfect angels."

Keith smiled at the image Lance presented, mainly because Lance had been letting his siblings' names drop out of his mouth a lot more frequently over the past few days as his excitement bubbled forth. In fact, he'd learned more about Lance's siblings over the past two days than he had over the past two or so years of being a paladin. It made him realize just how much Lance must've been repressing these memories before he'd been given this chance to go home and reunite with his family.

"Yes, well, thank you for helping me end that transmission," Allura said, clasping her hands together. "Although, we do have something important to discuss. You see, some of these leaders have brought up a specific concern. They are wondering why Earth is not a member of the Voltron alliance."

"There haven't been any hints of Zarkon's presence near Earth," Pidge offered.

"Yeah," Hunk added. "I mean, do we really want to draw attention to Earth by bringing it into the alliance?"

"But you can consider how it looks to the alliance members for all five of Voltron's paladins to be Earthlings, and yet, your home planet is not acquainted with our mission," Allura stated gently.

"Well," Keith said, running a hand through his hair, allowing his fingertips to brush against his ears, "we also have to consider that most Earthlings don't really believe in the existence of life beyond Earth."

"Surely that disbelief would be dispelled when they meet me and also see that you are part alien, yes?" Allura asked.

"And, you know, giant castle spaceship." Coran waved his hands around vaguely indicating the entirety of the ship they were standing in.

"For the good of the alliance, I think we are going to have to approach Earth's officials," Shiro said slowly.

"Who would we even talk to – oh," Lance said, cutting himself off when he saw Keith's ears lower to his head and matching looks of dread appear on Shiro's and Keith's faces. "The Garrison."

"They are in charge of the government's space exploration program," Shiro stated. "They'd be the logical place to start."

"Remember when we talked about what a good diplomat you are?" Lance murmured over to Keith with a grin.

"I think we had decided on the _opposite_ of that, actually," Keith murmured back with a small frown, earning a chuckle from his boyfriend. "Coran says punching is not a diplomatic skill."

"I can't remember the last time we encountered a planet full of individuals who were unaware of the existence of life on other planets," Coran said with a perplexed look on his face. "So, we'll just have Princess Allura and Keith front and center at the initial contact and —"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Hunk said. "We're not doing this right now?"

"Well, if we did it first —"

"No, no way. No offense guys," Lance said, shooting looks at Coran, Allura, and Shiro, "but our families deserve to see us in person first before they see us on the news or something talking about an alien war."

"I _have_ to get Matt home so our mother can see him," Pidge said.

Matt stood slightly behind Pidge, just outside of the circle the group had unconsciously made when they entered the main control room. He didn't tend to say much when the paladins got together for official meetings like this, but he nodded slowly in agreement now and then sent a small shrug and a smile to Shiro when his friend looked over at him.

"I agree with them," Shiro said when he saw the expectant look Allura sent him. "Once we enter talks with the Garrison about the alliance, there will likely be a lot of media coverage, and I just don't think the paladins are going to have an easy time going back home with their families to relax after that, which is what they're supposed to be doing on this trip. The best we can do is plan the meeting for the end of the month. I think the alliance members will be happy as long as we fly away from here with Earth listed on the ally group."

"Everyone else agrees with this plan?" Allura asked, making eye contact with each paladin, plus Matthew. When she received affirmative nods from everyone, she smiled. "Then that is what we will do."

"Well, with that all set," Coran said, "let's get you all down to the planet surface."

* * *

"You alright bud?"

Keith turned his scowl to Shiro, unsure why his friend asked the question when he was sure Shiro already knew the answer. Probably because asking was the standard social nicety, right? But, Keith didn't know all the standard social niceties. How was he going to impress Lance's family? They were going to hate him. They were going to immediately tell Lance that he could do better than a rude, part-alien jerk who didn't know how to make small talk. Then, they'd —

"Keith," Shiro said sharply with a quick shake to one of Keith's shoulders.

Keith's ears, which had flattened to his head as he'd been thinking, flicked up in surprise at Shiro as his eyes rose to Shiro's face. "I don't know how to make small talk."

"If they're anything like Lance, they'll probably do most of the talking for you," Shiro said with a smile, easily catching up to where Keith's brain was currently focused.

"I have no idea what to do with a family, Shiro. Do you remember how many hours are in a day on Earth? What am I supposed to do with them for that long?"

"Keith —"

"And for a month? Do you know how many hours are in a month?"

" _Keith_ ," Shiro repeated.

" _Takashi_."

"Okay, breathe, bud." Shiro sent Keith a sympathetic smile. "And I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it doesn't matter how many hours are in a month —"

"Seven hundred and forty-four."

"Keith —"

"Although, admittedly, I bet we'll only be awake for close to five hundred."

Shiro sighed. Loudly and in Keith's specific direction.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you do in fact know what to do with a family," Shiro said, trying once again to make his previous point. "We act like a family here on the castle. You're a part of _this_ family. And when you're with Lance's family, you'll just do what we do here."

"What we do here?"

"Yes, you'll eat meals together —"

"Fight evil aliens."

"— and share stories about your day." Shiro sent him a small glare, and Keith closed his mouth over whatever he was going to say next. "And, while keeping in mind that you don't have to share anything with them that makes you uncomfortable, they are going to be very curious about the guy who Lance is so clearly smitten with, so just be prepared that they are going to ask you questions. And be _polite_."

"I know to be polite," Keith grumbled as his mind thought about how easy it was to sit at the dinner table with everyone here in the castle. He'd never really thought about them as _family dinners_ , but if that was what family dinners looked like, then yes, he could do that.

"Oh, and no fighting with any members of his family."

Keith stared flatly back at his friend. "Why would —"

"Let's make _be polite_ rule number one and _no fighting_ rule number two."

"I wasn't looking for rules," Keith protested with another grumble. "And why am I going to fight with anyone?"

"No, Keith. _Don't_ fight with anyone."

"I'm not! Why —" Keith cut himself off and glared up at Shiro and Shiro's falsely innocent face.

Shiro grinned widely when it was clear Keith was onto him. Maybe Keith was irritated with him now, but Keith didn't appear to be openly panicking about his trip to Lance's family's home anymore.

Keith crossed his own arms over his chest and continued to scowl at Shiro. "Are you really going to be okay up here without us?"

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Like Pidge said before, there haven't been any hints of Galra presence anywhere near Earth so far. And if we run into trouble, I'm sure Red will scamper down and grab you by the scruff of your little neck before we even have a chance to contact you."

"You're not funny," Keith said, turning on his heel to join Lance over by the shuttle Coran was preparing for them.

"I'm very funny!" Shiro called after him.

* * *

"I totally ring the doorbell, right?"

Keith had actually expected Lance to sprint to the front door once Coran had dropped them off in a nearby secluded area. And while Lance had quickly dragged Keith down the street through this neighborhood, now that they'd reached what was apparently the McClain house, Lance appeared rooted to the sidewalk in front of it for some reason.

Keith glanced around the neighborhood while he gave Lance a minute to continue to just openly stare at his home. Lance's house sat in the middle of a cul-de-sac, and the tan paint and orange roof tiles matched all the other houses on the street in this Florida neighborhood. And while Keith couldn't see the ocean from here, he could hear it, and there was definitely the smell of salt in the air.

He turned his attention back to the house. There was only one large window facing the street, and it currently had its curtains pulled. The garage door was open, revealing one car inside, with an empty space for a second.

Keith glanced around at the other houses again and remembered what Lance had said about it being October. The surrounding houses had spider webs in trees and pumpkins on front porches. One even had orange mini lights strung around its mailbox. But he didn't find any trace of the holiday when he turned back to the McClain house. He tilted his head in thought at that. Just based on Lance alone, Keith would assume that his family would go all out on holiday decorations.

He adjusted his bag over his shoulder. They'd had next to nothing on them when they went into space so most of what was in their bags for this trip included their bayards and toothbrushes. That's what was in Keith's bag, anyway. He was sure Lance's bag had several additional bottles of lotion and face creams. Keith's final check of his belongings included thinking about the unfamiliar weight in his utility belt. They each had a cell-phone-like device now, courtesy of Hunk and Pidge, which would allow them to keep in touch with each other and the castle, especially since none of them had wanted to cart their paladin armor helmets down to Earth with them.

"Lance?" Keith finally asked with a squeeze to Lance's hand.

Lance swallowed hard as he stared up at his home. The last time he'd seen it had been when his family had surprised him and flown him home from the Garrison for a long holiday weekend. Staring at the house now, he knew that there was something slightly off about how it looked, although he wasn't sure what it was that was different. Admittedly, there was some comfort in seeing his mother's old car parked in the garage.

"I'm not sure I really believed I'd ever be here again," Lance finally responded with a small voice. Despite that, he squeezed Keith's hand in return and sent him a grin. "I'm not sure why I'm suddenly nervous, but I do know I'm glad you're here, space cat."

Keith offered a smile back before sending a meaningful glance towards the house.

"Yeah, okay," Lance said on an exhale. He led Keith to the front door and rang the doorbell. "Oh, by the way, we had a dog," he said a mere three ticks before barking could be heard on the other side of the door.

"Lance!" Keith said as he tried to pull his hand away from Lance's so he could move away from the door.

"He's the friendliest little guy!" Lance said, refusing to let go of Keith's hand as a corgi whipped around a corner and beelined for the door while continuing to bark. "He's never hurt a —"

Lance cut himself off as he and Keith suddenly had company on the other side of the door — _other_ _than the dog that was now growling at Keith_ — in the form of a tiny girl who peered up at them through the glass.

"Who is that?" Keith whispered.

Lance's eyes had widened. He shook his head, confused. "I – I don't know."

The tiny face suddenly pressed up against the glass and large blue eyes — the same shade of blue as Lance's — stared back at them. "Kitty!" the little girl exclaimed as she pointed a pudgy finger at Keith and grinned.

"I'm gonna say she's a McClain," Keith muttered. He even grinned a little as he turned towards Lance, but his smile dropped when he saw Lance's continued confused expression as he stared down at the little girl. "Lance?"

"You are not big enough to be answering the door, chiquilla!" A woman's voice reached them then, causing Lance's grip to tighten to the point of almost mangling Keith's poor fingers.

The woman appeared from around the corner, and Keith knew they'd been spotted when the glass dish she'd been drying with a dish towel immediately slipped from her hands and shattered on the tile floor at her feet. She was at the door in the next second, moving faster than Keith even thought possible. And when the door was swung open with what was surely enough force to shatter the glass, Keith grabbed it before it had a chance to slam into the wall.

Then Lance's hand was gone from his own as Lance was knocked back a few steps by the sheer force of the woman who was wrapping shaking hands around Lance's face. She was nearly as tall as Lance and Keith immediately recognized most of his boyfriend's features in the now sobbing — hopefully happy crying, Keith wasn't an expert on different types of crying — woman who had to be his mother. She was managing to get a few words out between sobs — _Are you real? Tell me you're real_ — and Keith watched Lance nod furiously in return as Lance's own eyes welled up with tears.

Keith's attention was quickly pulled away from the mother-son reunion, however, as the small dog took advantage of the open door and charged for Keith. He quickly sank his teeth into Keith's ankle before darting away to bark at him from a distance. Keith hissed out in pain and grabbed for his ankle, while also realizing that the little girl who'd been in the doorway before had apparently zero interest in the visitors, because she was currently toddling very quickly down the driveway.

He turned on his uninjured heel and raced after her before she could reach the street. He paused for a moment when he reached her, though, unsure how he was supposed to maneuver her back to the house. He glanced back at the hugging duo on the front porch, neither of which had noticed anything other than each other so far. From this distance, he was further struck by the similarities between Lance and his mother. Lance shared her tall, lean build, and with their heads pressed so closely together, it was easy to see that Lance's pretty hair color had come from her as well.

Movement in the corner of his eye caused him to turn and once again chase after the tiny McClain-house escape artist. She was wearing pink overalls over a t-shirt, and Keith briefly wondered if it would be appropriate to pick her up using the overall straps that crossed her back. After deciding that was probably a Bad Idea, he resorted to scooping an arm around her middle from behind and lifting her up to an uncomfortable backwards hip carry as he turned and headed back towards the house. She squirmed in the awkward hold, forcing him to adjust as he walked. She seemed to know more than he did because she managed to twist herself until she was facing him, forcing him to use two hands to prevent her from falling to the ground. And by the time they reached the front door again, she was happily situated on his hip in a more comfortable hold.

The evil dog was still there, standing protectively in front of Lance's mother. His growl got louder with every step Keith took towards the house. Keith stared down at the dog and hoped that his scowl would be enough to keep the dog from biting him again.

And since Lance and his mother were still hugging, Keith glanced towards the front door and wondered if he could deposit the small child back into the house. That thought was aborted as he realized there was glass covering the floor from the broken dish.

His ears flicked suddenly when he felt tiny fingers trying to pet them. "Kitty!" the little girl squealed again as she grinned up at him and reached up with grabby hands towards his ears.

Thankfully, that got Lance's attention, and he turned his mother towards Keith while keeping his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

"Mamá, this is my boyfriend, Keith."

"Your —" Lance's mother looked appropriately startled. Her breathing was still erratic as she tried to control her previous sobs. And Keith watched as her eyes moved from his face up to the ears the little girl was still trying to either pet or rip off his head — Keith honestly wasn't sure — and back down to his face again.

"He's cute, right?" Lance's eyes were still bright and shiny from his tears but he had a large grin on his face. "Also, who exactly is he holding?"

Reluctantly, Lance's mother let go of Lance and reached out to finally take the small child from Keith's arms. "It's nice to meet you, Keith," she said, the statement full of a wobbly voice and sniffles. "Please, call me Mora."

Keith glanced towards Lance quickly before looking back to Mora. "I'm happy to meet you as well," he responded.

"Mamá, there's glass! What's — _Lance_?"

Keith's ears flicked back against his head at the newcomer's high pitched shriek of Lance's name. Then Lance was being hugged again as a teenage girl burst through the front door and wrapped her arms tightly around Lance.

"How did you get here? Where have you been?" Her voice began high pitched but broke halfway through her second question as her own tears started.

Lance's face scrunched up in concern as the girl he was hugging began to cry, and Mora visibly clutched the toddler she was holding even tighter as fresh tears began to stream down her own face.

Without either Lance's hand or the little girl to hold, Keith stood by feeling slightly useless. So he leaned down to pick up Lance's discarded bag for him and jumped back when the corgi charged for him once again. The barking and growling was finally noticed by Lance and his family members, though, and Lance released the girl in order to swoop down and scold the small dog.

"Stop it, Gus-Gus!" Lance ordered as he took a protective step in front of Keith. The small dog cowered and took a few steps backwards towards Mora while Lance sent a nonchalant shrug towards his mother and sister. "Dogs don't really like Keith cause he's a space cat."

"Lance," Keith breathed out in a mocking sort of exasperation.

"Don't worry, babe. They can see the ears. Rosie, this is my boyfriend, Keith. Keith, this ridiculously tall and pretty girl — seriously Rosie, what the hell —"

"Language, Lance," Mora said automatically.

" — with the growth spurt and the makeup?"

Rosie launched herself at Lance once again and pulled him into another hug as more tears streamed down her face.

"Keith, this is Rosie," Lance finally finished as he adjusted them so he could see Keith over Rosie's head.

A moment later, Rosie let go of Lance and turned to Keith. Keith watched as her own wide blue eyes scanned over his ears.

"Wait, are those real?" Her voice was scratchy, likely due to the crying, and Keith's ears flattened against his head at the sound. "Holy shit —"

"Language, Rosita," Mora said.

"They moved!" Rosie continued, unphased. "How'd you do that? How do you have ears like that?" Then she waved a dramatic hand in the air and turned back to Lance. "Lance, _where have you been_?"

"Let's go inside," Mora said, suddenly.

"Watch the glass," Rosie said as she turned to open the door for the rest of the group.

Lance scooped up his own bag and grabbed Keith's hand as they followed the ladies into the front door of the house. They edged around the glass mess on the floor in the entryway before turning a corner that led directly into a large kitchen. It was painted a soft yellow, and the low sunlight that streamed in through what appeared to be a wall of windows along the back of the house made everything appear soft and warm.

Keith paused as he pictured little Lance sliding into the kitchen in his socks before climbing up on a stool at the island for breakfast. Cheerfully scooping in cereal while sharing jokes with his siblings, making them laugh before they all separated for the day. It was so far apart from the reality of Keith's own childhood, and yet he desperately hoped it had been true for Lance.

Beyond the kitchen was a comfortable living room with two plush couches facing each other, which immediately made Keith think that the house's occupants spent more time interacting with each other rather than watch the television that hung over the fireplace between the seating. And among the back wall of windows was a sliding glass door that Lance currently had open as he banished Gus-Gus out of the house and away from Keith.

Mora handed the little girl to Rosie before going directly to a closet in order to pull out a broom and dustpan. However, when she turned back around and saw Lance standing there in the middle of the kitchen, she dropped both items and wrapped her arms back around him for another hug as her sobs began all over again.

Keith watched Lance, because he wasn't sure what else to do in this situation. Lance didn't appear shocked by this behavior. He just wrapped his arms back around his mother and squeezed his own eyes shut. A sniffle from next to him drew his eyes over to Rosie, only to witness her own tears begin all over again as well. She lowered the little girl to the ground before moving across the kitchen where she was pulled into the hug by one of Lance's long arms.

Keith stared at the group hug, at least until the little girl began to toddle out of the kitchen. He acted quickly, picking up the broom and dustpan from where they'd been discarded and racing after the little girl. He narrowly beat her to the dangerous glass mess by the front door and slid a leg out in front of her to try to keep her back while he began to sweep the glass into a pile. The little one took this as a challenge and immediately tried scaling his leg. With his hands busy, he also used his leg to scoot her back a few feet as he swept as fast as possible. He had to repeat this maneuver a few times but was finally sweeping the glass onto the dustpan when the others seemed to realize that he and the little girl were missing from the kitchen.

"Keith — Keith, dear, we'll do that," Mora said. "Rosie, take that from him."

"Its okay —" Keith's protest was cut off as a still-teary eyed Rosie pulled the broom from him anyway.

"You're our guest," Mora said with a sniffle. "I appreciate it, though."

Lance sidled up next to Keith and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. And when Keith turned to look at him, he couldn't help but to reach up and drag his thumbs across both sides of Lance's face, doing his best to dry some of the wetness there.

"Keith, dear," Mora said, watching the soft moment between the two boys, "have you been missing as well? Is there someone we should call for you?"

Keith simply shook his head as he was pulled tighter into Lance's side.

Mora accepted that with a nod and then turned to Rosie. "Rosie, I want you to text — not call with your crying voice or you'll worry them — text Gabby and Theo and tell them to come here right away."

"Kitty!"

The little girl was attached to Keith's leg once again. This time Lance leaned down and scooped her up. Once he had her on his hip, she stared up at Lance's face with a curious expression. She even reached a hand up and touched Lance's cheek and then his nose.

"Mamá, who's this?"

Mora looked away from her own phone, her shaking hands making it almost impossible to dial the number she wanted. Then fresh new tears started as she stood watching Lance hold the little girl for the first time.

"That's Laney, Tío Lance," she finally managed to say.

"Uncle?" Lance repeated back as he shot wide eyes to the little girl again. "Who?"

"Markos."

"Mark had a daughter while I was gone?" His tone was barely above a whisper, and then Mora was there, hugging Lance again because Lance had his own fresh tears streaming down his face.

Laney fussed as she was squeezed between them and reached her arms out towards Keith to save her. Keith had no idea what he was doing, but he reached out and gently took her from Lance's arms. He waited for her to go after his ears again, but this time she only cuddled against his chest and stuck a thumb in her mouth.

"Okay, I texted them both," Rosie said, reappearing next to them. "They're already texting back asking why they have to come here immediately. I'm just going to ignore them, though."

Lance pulled out of the hug and turned to look at Laney once again. "She really likes you, space cat."

Keith's eyes lifted up to Lance's eyes and he stilled for a moment, because the fond look on Lance's face as he eyed Keith holding the little girl was doing something funny to Keith's chest.

"She really does," Mora said, tilting her head towards Keith and Laney, and thankfully pulling Keith's attention away from Lance before he physically began to blush in front of Lance's family over one small look.

"Why aren't you also texting papá and Mark?" Lance asked, suddenly aware that Rosie hadn't been instructed to text _everyone_ who wasn't already here.

Mora sent Rosie a look, and Rosie stared solemnly back at her mother.

"Coño," Lance cursed, his eyes darting back and forth between them. "What? What happened to them?"

"Language," Mora managed to say yet again. But then she was waving her hands about and shaking her head when she realized how worried Lance was by their silence. "No, no, no, they're fine. They're just not here. In town."

Rosie folded her arms across her chest and was suddenly frowning in Lance's direction. "Papá left about a year ago, Lance. To look for you."

"What?"

Mora nodded. "You were last spotted with a few others on some sort of cruiser heading out towards the desert? It took us nearly _a year_ to get that information out of the people at the Galaxy Garrison. But, once we learned that, your papá set off to look for you."

Lance had gone pale, and Keith shifted Laney so he could hold her with only one arm, allowing him a free arm to wrap a hand around Lance's upper arm to help keep him steady.

"They're not here?"

"Mark goes out to help him every few months, and we watch Laney while he's gone," Rosie added harshly as she reached forward and pulled Laney into her own arms.

Rosie was obviously upset, but Keith kind of wished she'd soften her tone since Laney looked startled by the sudden shift in who was holding her, and Lance was obviously not taking this well. Keith tried to remember the symptoms of shock that Coran had taught them when he decided to teach the paladins the basics of first aid. He was worriedly sure Lance was currently exhibiting about three or four of the signs and had a sudden urge to take Lance away to a quieter, dark place to recover.

"They're looking for me in the desert?" Lance's voice was flat, and Keith squeezed his arm.

Mora nodded slowly.

A choked noise came from Lance that ended just as soon as it began. "They'd never find me there."

Lance's voice had a new frantic edge to it, and Keith shot a look towards Mora. She responded by stepping forward and cupping Lance's face within her hands again, forcing him to focus on her face.

"Where have you been?" she whispered up to her son.

Lance's eyes slipped shut. Mora's eyes shifted to Keith.

"Space," Keith said softly.

Mora's hands fell from Lance's face so she could press them to her chest as she turned away from him. Rosie reached forward and pulled her mother into a hug.

"I need to sit," Lance murmured.

Keith required no further provocation. He pulled on Lance's arm and led him down the closest hallway. He ignored the brief thought that maybe Lance's family wouldn't want him out of their sight and focused only on the louder voice that said _get Lance somewhere quiet pronto._ Besides, Lance wasn't protesting and he didn't hear any protests from behind them. He led Lance into the first room they came to and then promptly sat Lance down on a bed.

Lance looked up at him with dull blue eyes. " _Keith_."

Keith dropped onto the mattress beside him and pulled Lance into him for a hug. Lance tucked his face into Keith's neck, which was honestly usually what Keith did when the two of them hugged, so Keith did what Lance would normally do for him. He lifted a hand to Lance's hair and began to run his fingers through it in what he hoped was a soothing manner. He could feel Lance's breaths coming out in haggard exhales against his neck, and he squeezed him harder, tucking him closer into his chest.

"Keith," Lance repeated after a few moments.

"Everyone's okay," Keith said.

"But they're not _here_. My father and brother _left home_."

"They'll come back as soon as they know you're here."

"My mother not only had to deal with my disappearance, but she's been living without my father for a year, Keith."

Keith nodded and continued to card his fingers through Lance's hair.

"And my brother —"

Lance's nose rubbed against Keith's skin as he shook his head almost violently against Keith's neck. Keith could hear him swallowing hard now, likely trying to fight off another round of tears. Keith's fingers tightened around some of Lance's hair, forcing him to stop shaking his head before he hurt himself.

"Mark was my best friend," Lance finally continued. "And he had a baby while I was gone." Lance slipped from Keith's grip as he pushed himself to stand so he could begin to pace. "I'm an uncle? I mean, how old is that kid?" Lance stared at the bedroom door as if it had the answer. "I've been an uncle for how long and I didn't even know it?"

Lance ran his own fingers through his hair before turning slowly and looking around the room.

" _Ay por dios_ ," Lance murmured.

"What?" Keith jumped to his feet, slightly alarmed by the new look of shock on Lance's face.

"My room. You brought me to my room."

Keith began to turn slowly himself then in order to take in the bedroom. There were two twin beds, one on each side of the room. And Keith watched Lance walk back to the bed they'd been sitting on and softly touch the blanket covering it. Then he turned to the desk next to the bed and picked up a half empty bag of M&Ms. He stared hard down at it and then turned back to Keith.

"This is from my last visit home," Lance said quietly. "They haven't touched anything."

His eyes moved past Keith to the dresser behind him, and one of his eyebrows quirked up. He picked up the large cardboard box that sat there and dropped it on his bed before he began digging through it.

"Keith," he said softly. "Keith, it's my stuff from my room at the Garrison."

Keith moved forward to glance down into the box. There were some notebooks and some clothes, but also a few more personal items. Keith picked up a small spaceship and looked at Lance with a question on his face.

Lance's lips quirked up. "It's from Star Trek? A replica of the U.S.S. Enterprise?"

"Nerd," Keith muttered as he dropped the small replica back into the box and received an elbow from Lance.

But Lance was smiling at him again. So Keith leaned into him and tilted his head up. He practically sighed in relief when Lance's mouth not only met his for a kiss, but Lance's fingers bunched in Keith's shirt to pull him closer. Lance broke the kiss a few moments later and rested his forehead against Keith's.

"It's not supposed to be like this," Lance whispered, his eyes still shut tight.

Keith pulled him into another hug, wishing he could magically make this reunion turn out the way Lance had seen it in his head. His turned his own head and glanced back down into Lance's Garrison box. "What are those?"

Lance shifted his head, nuzzling his face against Keith's on his way to turn and look down at the box. Keith lifted a small stack of photos and handed them to Lance.

"These were on my bulletin board in my room," Lance murmured.

Keith rested his chin on Lance's shoulder and pressed himself up against his boyfriend's side so he could look at each photo as Lance shuffled through them. He watched a small smile pull at Lance's lips again and thought about how smiles just belonged on Lance's face.

There were several pictures of Lance's family, people that Keith was now beginning to recognize. But Lance stalled when he got to a picture of all five McClain siblings piled together in the sand at the beach. Lance took a shaky breath and then told Keith how it had been taken the summer before he'd left for the Garrison. And how, after much pleading from their baby sister, Theo had finally agreed to let Rosie bury him in sand. But as soon as he was good and trapped, Lance and Mark had dogpiled on top of him, despite Rosie's protests that she was " _actually creating sand art here, guys_!" Theo had called for their big sister to help, but Gabby's definition of help had apparently been to just sit on top of her pile of brothers, which had led Rosie to give up once and for all and flop on top of all of them.

"Mamá was there and managed to get this picture," Lance said. "This one is definitely coming with us when we go back. I can't tell you the number of times I wished I'd had it on me when we left."

"Maybe we can get a frame for it," Keith murmured.

Lance nodded and finally began to flip through the rest of the pictures. After the family photos came shots of Lance and Hunk around campus. Followed by what appeared to be silly selfies.

"Did you actually have pictures of yourself up in your room?" Keith teased.

"Uh, yup. All selfies of me," Lance said quickly as he tried to stuff the pictures back in the box.

But Keith recognized Lance's _trying to hide something_ tone of voice and he swiped the pictures out of Lance's hand and spun around, giving him exactly one tick to look at the pictures before Lance's long arms were wrapping around him in an attempt to swipe them back. Two pictures into the selfie stack and Keith froze when he saw what Lance had most likely been trying to hide. He let Lance take the other photos away from him, but managed to keep this one out of his reach so he could continue to stare.

It was a selfie of Lance — Lance's smile was as bright as ever as he grinned up at the camera — but Lance's face was off-centered in the frame, as if the sole purpose of the photo was not to capture Lance's face, but to capture the scenery behind Lance instead. Which immediately drew Keith's eyes away from that dazzling smile in order to focus on something in the background. Or rather a black-haired _someone_ who was sitting on the front steps of the main building, elbows resting on his knees as he stared solemnly up at the sky.

Keith finally spun back around to face Lance with a surprised expression and Lance's pink-tinged face practically gave him away before Keith could even open his mouth.

"This picture was up in your room?"

Lance gently took the picture away from Keith and glanced down at it. "Yes. That is one good-looking dude, Keith. He deserved to be on my wall."

"Are you talking about you or me?"

Lance huffed out a breath and avoided Keith's eyes as he placed the photo back in the box where it was safe with the others.

"You knew I was sitting there when you took that picture?"

He watched Lance shrug and shift some of the other items around in the box. But Lance wasn't fooling him. Not only was Lance's face an almost alarming shade of red, the color had reached the tips of his ears now too.

Keith's arms wrapped around Lance's neck and he jerked the slightly taller boy in quickly so he could proceed to kiss the living daylights out of him. Lance flailed slightly at the shock of it but then he smoothly fell into Keith's idea, landing hands on Keith's hips so he could lightly run his fingers up the back of Keith's shirt and feel Keith shudder against him.

"I think —" Keith struggled to say between kisses, "— that's really — cute."

"Not creepy?"

"Am I supposed — to think — it's creepy?"

"Nope. Uh uh. You're supposed — to think it's cute."

"Good."

"Pretty," Lance whispered. Then he pulled his mouth away only so he could get a better look at Keith's face, and Keith allowed it only because he was pleased to see Lance's blue eyes shining happily again. "You were just so damn pretty."

Lance complimented him often. And while Keith loved him for it, especially due to the way he was filled with warmth at every softly spoken fond word, none of the things Lance said to him heated his insides the way Lance calling him _pretty_ did. He thought it ridiculously unfair, really. And he liked to retaliate with his lips against Lance's skin. There was a small grunt from Lance's throat now, in fact, as Keith's mouth went after his neck. Then Lance's fingers were pressing into the skin of Keith's back and for a lingering, blissful moment, they both forgot about the stress happening outside of this bedroom.

Which is exactly when there was a knock on the door, followed by Mora's voice saying Lance's name.

The two took a forced step away from each other, and Lance's hand shot to his neck where Keith's mouth had just been working.

"Keith, tell me there's not a mark on my neck," Lance whispered.

Keith's first response was a devilish grin, but he couldn't lie to Lance, so he simply shook his head no. He wasn't so out of sorts with social norms to think that giving Lance a hickey in the middle of his family reunion was a good idea.

"We'll be right out, Mamá," Lance called back as he readjusted the things in the Garrison box and moved to place it where it had been before.

"You shared this room?" Keith asked, taking a moment to glance at the other twin bed. It was strange, because Keith could actually smell the faint scent of Lance in here. But there was also a distant hint of someone else, all covered in a layer of dust.

"Yeah, Mark and I shared this room growing up. Though, I was in high school when he went off to college, so I finally got my own room for a while." Lance glanced around the room once more before he reached a hand out for Keith. He definitely looked more relaxed as he sent Keith a bright grin. "Okay, space cat, let's keep going."

* * *

"Hey Pidge," Keith said in a low voice from where he stood in the main room off the kitchen.

He was doing his best to hide from the tiny toddler who kept attaching herself to his leg. From this spot he could see not only Lance sitting with his mother and Rosie at the island in the kitchen, but also out into the backyard. The sliding glass doors actually led out to an inground pool which was surrounded by a lanai. Beyond that was a stretch of green grass, which is where Gus-Gus was currently sitting, glaring back at him. The yard backed up to a wooded area, which provided a feeling of privacy.

Keith glanced back towards Lance. He had his mother's phone pressed to his ear, but then shook his head in frustration and disconnected the call. They'd been calling both Lance's father and Mark, but so far no one was picking up on the other ends.

"I'm sorry to be calling already," Keith said in a halting tone, suddenly aware that he was probably interrupting Pidge's family bonding time. "How's it going on your end?"

Pidge sighed through the line. "Good? But, also —" Pidge paused to sigh again. "I mean, mom is happy, but" — there was a fumbling noise on the other end as if Pidge was moving through her own house — "she had been under the impression that Matt was _dead_ , you know? I mean, I told her I was going to look for Dad and Matt, so she kind of expected me to break contact, but, um, to see her reaction to Matt standing in front of her has actually been —"

"Hard to watch?" Keith supplied.

"Yeah. Same over there?"

"Lance's mom is crying again. It's been like — three vargas? I just keep handing her glasses of water. She's gonna dehydrate otherwise, right?"

Pidge's laugh was so sudden it sounded like it escaped without her permission. Keith let his own small smile slip as he pictured her shaking her head and trying to contain additional laughter, especially when she failed and full on giggling filled the line between them. Pidge cleared her throat and tried to rein in the laughter, although admittedly her chest felt a little lighter than it had been before the phone call.

"Wait, here comes a new McClain," Keith murmured into the phone when he spotted a slightly shorter, skinnier version of Lance suddenly appear around the corner from the front door and call out to everyone as he pushed off his shoes.

"Mamá! I'm home! Why'd I have to leave soccer prac—"

"Did he just spot Lance?" Pidge whispered through the phone when she heard the new voice in the room suddenly stop, followed by pure silence.

"Yup," Keith whispered back.

The younger brother, Theo — Keith assumed — stood frozen in place, his face paling and his mouth dropped open in shock. But Keith's own eyes softened as he watched the way Lance's eyes lit up when he spotted Theo. Then Lance was up out of his seat and barreling into the little brother before lifting him off the ground in a hug.

"L-Lance?" Theo finally said, lifting his arms finally in order to pat at Lance's back a few times.

" _Ay por dios_ , you got taller!" Lance exclaimed before smooshing Theo's cheeks together while he beamed down at him. "And is this stubble? Wait, are you wearing my old soccer practice jersey? And what's with the longer hair? You're not letting Gabby cut it?"

"Lance!" Theo swatted half-heartedly at Lance's hands. But then he laughed, even while tears streamed down his face, he laughed and launched himself back at Lance in order to really hug him.

Even Keith smiled as Theo's laugher seemed to ease the tension in the house. Mora and Rosie seemed to relax in their seats out in the kitchen. Laney even wandered over to her two uncles and stared up at them, seemingly aware that they were the sudden source of happiness in the home.

"That sounds nice," Pidge murmured and Keith almost jumped because he forgot he was still on the phone with her. "Anyway, did you call for something specific?"

"Uh, yeah," Keith said, turning his back to the McClains behind him. "If I give you a phone number, can you track down coordinates for the phone and send it to Coran with a message?"

"You want to subject some members of Lance's family to an alien abduction?" Pidge responded without hesitation.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"No problem. Send me the number."

* * *

"Rosie!"

The door from the garage to the kitchen swung open harshly. Keith was thankful he hadn't physically jumped at the surprise, although Lance definitely dropped his mother's phone.

"I was two towns over today!" the young woman barging through the door exclaimed. "You do not text me that I need to come over immediately and then _not_ answer your phone when I call back to see what's wrong!"

Then the woman's eyes moved from Rosie, who stood at the fridge, over to the movement that was Lance jumping to his feet. Keith prepared his ears for more screeching, but thankfully this sibling's reaction was quiet and her words came out in a near whisper.

"Lancito."

"Hey, Gabby, Lance is home," Rosie said dryly, clearly unappreciative of Gabby's previous yelly lecture.

Keith wasn't sure who moved first between the two of them, but soon Lance and Gabby met in the middle of the kitchen in a tight hug. Gabby's tears began soon after, although — and Keith was _maybe_ becoming an expert on different types of crying, wait till he told Shiro — Gabby's tears didn't have sobs or heaving breaths like Mora's or Rosie's. In fact, Gabby's tears, like Theo's, seemed happy, especially when she let a laugh bubble up from her chest.

Gabby pulled back and squeezed Lance's shoulders as she stared up at him. "I don't think I've ever been this happy in my entire life. I'm even going to ignore the fact that you're so much taller than me now, you jerk!" Then she pulled him into another hug with another laugh.

Keith glanced at the others. Theo looked ready to jump in on the hug. Rosie did too, which was promising, since she was clearly still angry and had been keeping a few feet between her and Lance since telling him about their father's actions over the past year.

And other than encouraging Lance to keep trying to get through to his father or brother on the phone, Mora had been quiet since Keith's earlier revelation that Lance had been in space all this time. It worried him, actually, since Lance being in space was one of the smaller details of the entire Voltron story Lance still had to tell.

"Gabs, this is my boyfriend, Keith," Lance finally said, pulling away slightly to point Gabby in Keith's direction.

" _Ay por dios_ ," Gabby's own blue eyes widened at the sight of Keith. "You have cat ears and that's important and we will come back to it, but I'm just going to hug you right now."

And then Keith was pulled into a tight hug by Lance's big sister and remarkably felt entirely comfortable — although he'd appreciated the fist bump Theo had offered him earlier — because this was the first McClain family member who reacted as Keith, and probably Lance, had hoped.

"Does papá know?" Gabby asked, spinning around to the others. "Is he on his way?"

Rosie scowled and was about to answer when Mora's phone began ringing on the island countertop.

Keith was currently closest to it, so he picked it up and gingerly handed it to Lance. Lance fumbled with the connect button for a moment but then he quickly began speaking as soon as the phone was to his ear.

"Papá, es Lance. He regresado."

Keith's ears flicked up — quickly drawing the attention of every other person in the room — as he heard a man's voice repeating Lance's name on the other end.

Lance turned his back to the others as he began to run his fingers through his hair.

"Yes, papá —" Lance's voice cracked on the last word and Keith could hear crying on the other end of the line as well.

Keith chewed on his lower lip and kept his eyes on Lance's back as he once again wondered if there was something he could do to help make this entire process easier for Lance. For everyone, really. Had he been expecting so many tears on this trip? Seeing all of their reactions in person made Keith realize a smooth and happy reunion as Lance returned to his family two years after disappearing — _literally off the face of the Earth_ — had been completely unrealistic.

Keith thought about how he'd felt when he'd first laid eyes on Shiro after Shiro had been missing and presumed dead for over a year. He'd been relieved, although not enough to actually cry. While he thought of Shiro as an older brother, he hadn't actually grown up with Shiro. Plus, Pidge seemed to indicate that this same sort of deal was going on in her house right now, too, which also made him wonder how Hunk was faring at his own house.

So, likely, these reactions weren't specific to the McClain family, but maybe just to families in general? Either way, it was clear enough to Keith that without Lance, this family had fractured.

Laney toddled over to where he sat on a stool at the kitchen island then and he resigned himself to her stubborn insistence that she be allowed full access to his lap. He lifted her up and helped her settle before his attention went back to Lance.

"No, no, I haven't been hurt — well, I mean, I have, but — no, no I'm perfectly fine now." Lance ran his hand through his hair again and let out a deep sigh.

Laney's little hands reached up for his ears again and Keith had to wrap his hand around her back to keep her from unbalancing herself enough to fall off his lap. He found it slightly amusing that he was forced to keep the tiny creature, who was intent on pulling on his ears repeatedly, safe and unhurt. His ears flicked free repeatedly from her tiny fists while Keith continued to do his best to prevent her from plummeting to the floor.

"Wait, what?" Lance said suddenly, spinning around with wide eyes that he pinned directly on Keith. "You called because a space ship just found you?"

Mora stood and quickly approached Lance with concern written all over her face.

"Apparently McClains are cursed in that desert," Theo murmured.

"Don't joke, this is serious," Rose said, elbowing him as she spoke. She stood as well and approached Lance. "Aliens want papá and Mark now too?"

Lance's eyes moved over his stressed family members and then shot back to Keith before he spoke again. "An alien with an orange moustache is asking you to get in his spaceship?" Lance said with a frown at Keith.

"I thought it would be faster," Keith murmured.

"Papá, put Coran on the phone. Yes, yes I know his name."

* * *

Mark and Lance's father, Ray, had been dropped off by Coran about half an hour ago. Laney had happily run up for a hug from her own father while Keith watched Lance's father openly weep as soon as he crossed the threshold and Lance charged into his arms for a fierce hug. Ray was also quite tall, and Keith thought about how there had just been zero chance for Lance to have not ended up with those long limbs Keith liked so much.

Mark's hug was noticeably different than the others Lance had received that day. For one, there weren't tears from Mark, although Keith would've preferred tears over the harsh way Mark's fingers were squeezing Lance's arms. And considering his face really just looked like an older and slightly more haggard version of Lance's face, Keith found it unsettling to see such a deep frown etched into Mark's expression.

Finally, Mark pulled back from Lance and just stared at him. There was hostility directed towards Lance there, despite the fact that the two had just been hugging. It made Keith's eyes narrow, but he knew there wasn't much he could do. This was Lance's older brother, after all. Lance had even called him his best friend earlier. Keith was going to have to overlook the way Mark's fingers appeared to be trying to bruise Lance's arms. For now.

"You're taller than me now," Mark finally murmured as he finally released Lance and held his arms out for Laney again.

Lance chuckled nervously, his eyes still on Mark even though Mark was no longer looking at him. "Yeah, uh, there's some deal about the way gravity affects the bone's growth plates in space. Or something."

"Space," Mark repeated. He turned a glare in Lance's direction and Lance's eyes widened in surprise. "Let me guess, the man with the orange moustache asked if you wanted a ride in his space craft and you just jumped in without a thought about how you were being abducted? Or how our parents would react to your disappearance?"

"What? No." Lance was shaking his head as Keith finally gave into the urge to go stand next to him.

"Who is this?" Mark asked, finally noticing the extra person in their home. "Did you actually bring home an alien?"

Keith's ears immediately flattened and he cringed slightly as Mark took a deliberate step away from him, although he felt slightly better when Laney's arms reached out to him and she happily squeaked out a "Kitty!"

"Mamá!" Mark spun around towards Mora. "Has my daughter been playing with an alien?"

"Mark," Mora said, slowly, "this is Keith."

"Keith is my boyfriend," Lance interjected, bristling already at Mark's behavior. "I brought him with me so you could all meet him, and because I wanted him to meet all of you."

"And Laney happens to love him," Gabby added.

Mark continued to stare at the rest of them as if they'd lost their minds. He huffed out a breath and began to walk off towards the bedrooms. "I have to put Laney in bed," he called over his shoulder. "But then you're telling us about _space_ , Lance."

Lance, in turn, grabbed Keith's hand and headed for the closest exit, which was the sliding door that led out to the lanai. He pulled Keith outside and quickly slid the door shut behind them before pressing his back up against the glass and just allowing himself to stand there and breathe.

Keith eyed the rest of the family inside. They'd all moved as if to follow, but stopped when Lance's back hit the glass. Now they stood still, as if completely unsure what to do.

"Are they coming out here?" Lance asked in a quiet voice.

"No," Keith answered. He turned his full attention to Lance and moved to plant himself in front of him. "Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?" Lance quickly responded. He pulled himself off the door in order to stand properly as his eyes shot to Keith's face. "I'm sorry Mark was being a jerk." He lifted a hand to cup Keith's face and smiled when Keith not only leaned into it, but those flattened ears lifted happily away from his hair.

"You don't have to apologize, Lance." He pulled Lance's hand away from his face only so he could hold it within his own. "You've been _missing_. And then to turn up suddenly after two years?"

Lance could only nod in agreement, still in the middle of trying to process everyone's reactions himself.

"Lance, are you still sure I should be here? I mean, honestly, I won't be offended if you think I should go back to the castle while you —"

"What? No. No way," Lance said with a shake of his head.

"I can always come back later, Lance. Maybe after they've had some time to adjust? I'm sure they'd really rather spend time with just you."

Lance shook his head again and reached out to pull Keith into a hug. A fuzzy ear flickered against Lance' cheek as Keith went willingly into the embrace, fitting perfectly as always curled into Lance's chest.

"I need you here, space cat," Lance whispered. "They're hurt and mad and upset and this is so much harder than I thought it was going to be. Please stay with me."

Keith nodded into Lance's neck. "Whatever you want," he whispered back.

"Hmm, whatever, huh?" Lance let his lips pull up into a slow grin as he pulled his head back enough to see Keith's face again. He let himself fall into the familiar teasing because he needed a moment to forget about the stress and anger and sadness waiting for him on the other side of this door. And while that was the family he'd been missing desperately in there, the fact that he hadn't seen them in over two years — the unfamiliar qualities of each of them he was picking up on — was hitting him hard.

He tightened his arms around Keith. Keith, who was his safe spot, even if said safe spot was rolling his eyes at Lance's teasing right now.

"None of that," Keith chided. "We're doing none of that in your parents' house."

"What?!" Lance's mouth dropped open in shock.

A fist knocked sharply on the glass behind Lance's head, and Lance turned with a forced smile and nod of acknowledgement to Mark. Mark didn't smile back, only turned and headed back towards the rest of the family.

"Mark isn't a frowner," Lance murmured as he watched his big brother walk away. "Like, even if I beat him in video games or knocked him into the pool fully clothed, he'd still have a smile."

Keith watched Mark walk away as well. Mark's anger was clearly a defense mechanism, and he was willing to give the big brother the benefit of the doubt. "He's been worried about you."

"Well, maybe after I explain everything, he'll go back to being Mark?"

Keith didn't know how to answer that. So he pressed his lips against Lance's briefly and then slid the door behind Lance open.

* * *

Lance had pulled Keith down on the couch next to him when they joined the others in the main room. Keith sat close to Lance, slightly out of necessity since Theo had seated himself on Keith's other side and was crowding him in an effort to be closer to Lance. Keith was surprised Theo was over here, actually, since the rest of the family had opted to sit somewhere in front of Lance — with his parents and Gabby on the opposite couch, Mark sitting on the edge of the fireplace, and Rosie in a chair she'd dragged over from the kitchen table — all positions which kept Lance in their direct line of sight. Theo was admittedly sitting on the edge of the couch to do the same and Keith did his best to press himself against the back of his seat, giving Theo a better chance to watch Lance.

"Lance," Ray said calmly, "where have you been?"

"Did this Coran guy kidnap you or not?" Mark asked harshly.

"No, Coran wouldn't kidnap anyone," Lance said. "He's like our weird space uncle."

"Our?" Mora asked.

"Yeah, uh, when I left Earth, I was with —"

"So you're saying you went with him willingly?" Mark asked. "Just jumped in his spaceship?"

"And didn't think maybe you should call your family first?" Rosie asked.

"Or — I don't know — _not_ go into space?" Mark added.

"We didn't know where you were," Theo murmured in a tone that was different from Mark's or Rosie's in that it was slightly more hurt than angry.

Keith watched Lance flash Theo an apologetic look before waving his hands in front of him to try to stop the others. "No, no, we didn't just —"

"It figures he'd just jump into an alien spaceship," Mark muttered, dropping his forehead to his hands. "How many times did we have to explain why candy from strangers was _bad_?"

Lance pulled a face before saying, "Mark, this is hardly the same situation, dude. When I left it was —"

"So you're saying you _didn't_ just jump into an alien spaceship?" Mark countered.

"Well —"

"Ay por dios."

Now Ray was dropping his face into his own hands, and Mora appeared to be on the verge of tears again.

"Can we just let Lance talk?" Gabby asked. She rubbed Mora's shoulder in a comforting manner while shooting Mark a look before pointedly glancing back at their mother.

Keith watched Mora's eyes shine with tears and wondered if he should ask if she wanted to switch seats so she could sit next to Lance, except that Lance's shoulders were drooping lower and lower and Keith needed to comfort Lance more than he wanted to comfort his mother. He wanted to grab hold of one of Lance's hands in support, but Lance's hands were busy repeatedly raking through his hair again in worry. So instead, Keith scooted closer to his boyfriend, pressing himself against Lance's side so that their legs were touching. Lance took a deep breath and glanced at Keith before turning back to his family.

"Well, uh, the night I left the Garrison, I was being a good teammate, you know, trying to bond with Hunk and Pidge. We saw something crash land nearby —"

"Did you alert your superiors when you saw the crash?" Mark asked.

Keith narrowed his eyes at Mark when he felt Lance shift nervously in his seat next to him. This was going to take all night if Mark interrupted with snarky questions after every one of Lance's sentences.

"No, we went to investigate ourselves."

"Yeah, that makes total sense," Mark deadpanned.

Keith could physically feel Lance shrink next to him and he silently repeated Shiro's rule number two. _Don't fight. Don't fight. Don't fight_.

Thankfully, Ray and Mora both jumped in.

"Markos," Ray said, sharply.

"I want to hear Lance's story," Mora added. After all, Keith had said Lance had been in _space_. She needed to know how one of her babies have ended up so far from home. So she looked back to Markos and sent him another pleading look to let Lance speak. Mark responded by dropping his face back to his hands, blocking them all from his vision. She hated that he was so upset. But for the moment he was being quiet, so she looked back to Lance to encourage him to continue.

Lance was watching Mark with a hurt expression on his face. But a slight press of Keith's leg against his own seemed to bring him back to the rest of the group. He cleared his throat and began talking again. He spent the next few minutes explaining how they'd seen Takashi Shirogane on a security feed at the crash site, about Keith's diversion, and how he'd run into the tent once he'd seen Keith sneaking in. He made it all the way to explaining that they needed to get Shiro somewhere safe before he was interrupted again.

"You went with a stranger to his shack in the middle of the desert —"

"Keith may not have remembered me —"

"I did too," Keith muttered.

"— but he wasn't a stranger, Mark," Lance answered.

"So when did the aliens show up?" Rosie asked.

"They didn't," Lance said in a softer tone. "We went to them."

"Coño," Mark muttered into his hands.

"Mark!" Gabby snapped before their mother could even complain about his language.

"Oh, come on, Gabs!" Mark yelled back. "Does any of this surprise you when it comes to Lance? Oh, oh! And now, this stranger who dragged him out into the desert? Is now his boyfriend? His alien boyfriend? You're so fucking naive, Lance!" Mark jumped to his feet and paced to the other side of the room before turning to glare at Lance again. "That laid back attitude everyone loves about you? Just leads you to go along with any fucking thing that anyone suggests to you!"

Lance jumped to his feet as well and Keith resisted the urge to do the same.

 _Don't fight. Don't fight. Don't fight._

"I didn't just go along with it, Mark! My lion chose me!"

"Your what?"

"He's a defender of the universe!" Keith suddenly interjected in a loud voice, which he softened slightly before speaking again. "He's been away at war."

 _Too blunt, too fucking blunt_ , Keith thought as immediate tears began to stream down Mora's face, Ray's grimace grew deeper, Gabby gasped, and Theo and Rosie's mouths dropped open in horror.

"Markos sit down and be quiet," Ray said in a low voice.

Mark did as his father asked while Keith turned his attention back to Lance, now the only one standing in the room. He took in Lance's heaving chest and tightened fists. He quietly switched to the Altean language before he spoke again.

"Please sit back down, baby."

There were confused looks from everyone when they heard the foreign language. But Mora watched as Lance's eyes flew to Keith's face as a range of emotions ran across Lance's face, including shock, fondness, and then frustration as Lance shot a finger out to point accusingly at Keith before replying, also in a language none of them understood.

"That's not fair!" Lance said suddenly with his finger pointed accusingly at Keith. "You don't get to pull out your first proper pet name for me when I can't even respond correctly!"

"How do you want to respond?"

"With kisses, you jackass!" Lance watched Keith smirk at him as he finally sat back down next to him and slid his hand into Keith's hand. "Not cool, Keith. Not cool."

Keith smiled in response. Because Lance's smile was a little shaky, but it was there.

And to Mora, it didn't matter that she didn't understand any of the words exchanged between the two. Her hand had flown up to her own mouth as she had watched the outrageous posture, heard the mock indignation in his tone of voice, and saw the genuine smile that crossed her son's face. _This was Lance_. This was the boy they'd all missed. She glanced around the room and noticed that everyone else, including Mark, had stilled to stare as well.

Mora turned to consider Keith again. Other than the furry ears, which she hadn't been sure were real earlier, she hadn't given the other boy much consideration in her overwhelming relief to see Lance alive in front of her. But she could feel herself growing fonder of Keith as she watched him not only calm Lance, but bring him back to himself so easily with a few words and a smirk of his own.

"Tell them the rest of the story." Keith spoke again in English now that Lance was calmer and even openly smiling. Keith turned back to the rest of the family and caught a soft look passed between Mora and Ray before their own hands met and clasped together.

Mora then did her best to send an understanding look to her eldest son. She had been there, after all, to see Mark fall apart as the days went by and they had no word from or about Lance. She'd seen him when he lost his job because he'd been unable to get out of bed and go to work. She'd helped him when he moved back in with them — _into the guest room because there was no way he could stay in his and Lance's old room_. She'd heard him cry and rage and punch the walls. She'd stayed up late worrying about yet another son when he'd begun to stay out all night. And she'd tried to remain calm when he came home and told them that he was going to have a baby with a girl he'd only just met.

And then when he had brought Laney home, an event that should've been joyous but was actually heartbreaking because Mark's best friend — _the_ _person he'd named his daughter after_ — wasn't there to meet Mark's firstborn.

And as Lance tried to explain to them about a cave with lion drawings and a seemingly magical blue lion space craft, all she really heard was Lance telling them he'd been hurtling through space for the past two years. So far out of their reach that it was making her chest hurt again.

* * *

 **Author notes:**

I hope I've done my job in all those words up there explaining why this reunion just can't be all fluff.

I'd like to say a special thank you to mytay and suitboxers, both of whom sent positive feedback after reading this first part. I've been writing this entire story for the past month solid and their encouragement has kept me going. Big hugs to you both!

I do not speak Spanish, but I have a friend who not only speaks Spanish and offered to let me run some phrases by them, but who also helped me find some Cuban Spanish references. However, I still take full responsibility for any misused/inappropriate words in the story.

Here are a couple translations (or feelings) that were meant to be expressed above:

Chiquilla – term of endearment for a little girl

Coño – shock and anger

 _Ay por dios –_ oh my God

"Papá, es Lance. He regresado." – "Papa, its Lance. I'm back."

I'm basically just basing the McClain family home on my own uncle's house in Florida. I can't write about what it's actually like in _space_ , but I can write about what its actually like in his part of Florida ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Lance knew he had a pride-filled smile on his face when he told his family about the blue lion's reaction to him. Him being the first to find his lion meant that he didn't even know the significance of such an event when it happened, while Pidge, Hunk, Keith, and Shiro all had the advantage of knowing what a momentous deal it was when they first connected with their lions.

He played with Keith's fingers as he spoke, and hoped that with time, his family would come to appreciate this major event in his life as well. For now, however, they were all staring back at him with confused, almost doubtful expressions. One glance to Keith, where he received an encouraging half smile, settled his disappointment for now.

He continued the story and made it as far as flying into space, leading a Galra warship away from Earth, entering the Castle of Lions, and meeting Princess Allura and Coran before his father interrupted and asked if he and his mother could speak to him alone. He hadn't even made it to forming Voltron or Voltron's purpose yet.

Admittedly, his mother looked a little ill, and his father was doing that thing where he steepled his fingers together, which meant he was gearing up to say something he knew the listener wouldn't like.

His siblings had stood slowly, obviously upset about being kicked out, but unwilling to go against what their father wanted right now. Even Mark stood and led the way for the rest of them through the sliding doors to stand out by the pool.

But when Keith began to stand as well, Lance pulled him by the hand to land him back on the couch beside him.

Keith sent a confused glance between Lance and his parents before switching to Altean once again. "I really think they mean just you," Keith murmured softly.

Lance took a deep breath and let himself be calmed by the soft look in Keith's pretty purple eyes. Then he nodded and squeezed Keith's hand before letting him go. He watched Keith stand up and then debate between heading back towards the bedrooms or outside where Lance's siblings all stood. Lance could see them all huddled together, and resigned himself to being stared at through the glass for as long as they were forced to stay out there. But for now, Lance smiled when Keith turned and went outside, choosing Lance's siblings over being alone.

His parents waited until the door slid shut behind Keith before turning back to Lance.

"Giant magical lion robot spacecraft?"

" _Space_ , Lance?"

Lance rubbed at his eyes. His head was pounding and his eyes stung, no doubt from all the tears he'd shed that day. It was dark outside beyond the well-lit lanai, and he vaguely remembered Mark saying something about putting Laney to bed earlier, which left him wondering how late it was. Pile on top of the stress of the day the fact that none of them had eaten dinner, and he was counting himself lucky that he didn't have a migraine.

He glanced through the glass again at Keith, who was currently looking adorably awkward as he stood with his ears pressed back and his hands in his pockets as he stood talking to Gabby. He hoped Keith was doing okay. If he felt this physically drained while being surrounded by his own family, then he could only imagine how Keith was doing surrounded by strangers, especially when one of those strangers had been a tiny toddler intent on ripping his ears off.

"Okay, the space thing shouldn't be such a stretch, right?" Lance asked, looking back to his parents as his mother stood and moved across the small space so she could sit next to Lance and rest a hand on his arm. "I mean, I was training to be a pilot in the Galaxy Garrison program. I was going to eventually end up in space."

"Yes, Lance, but on scheduled deployments," his father said. "Even if we didn't hear from you every day like we were used to, at least we would know where you were."

"What we've been through the last two years." His mother stopped for a moment to press her eyes shut. "Couldn't you have reached out to us?"

Oh, quiznack, his mother was crying again. The sting in his own eyes grew stronger then, and he was pretty sure his tear ducts were protesting their overuse. He ran a hand through his hair before pressing his fingertips against his eyes.

"I asked that, when we left Arus." His voice wobbled. How many times had he stared at Earth on the viewfinder while wishing he could see his family again? Or even just call them on a space phone? "But, there was a chance that any transmission from us could be traced, which meant if we tried to contact you, we could make Earth a target. And I preferred thinking that you were all safe." His tears dried up — which also unfairly stung — as his eyes filled with determination as he spoke. He, Hunk, and Pidge had been adamantly following the rule that the three of them had created: _No contact with Earth_.

His mother looked like she wanted to protest further, but it was his father who managed to speak first.

"What matters is that you made it back to us."

And then Lance felt a cold chill run through him. Because he hadn't managed to make it through the entire _Defender of the Universe_ story, which meant his parents didn't yet know that he wasn't here to stay. That he was just here on a visit. And how was he supposed to tell them? They were already hurting, even in their relief to see him.

His eyes lifted and when he searched out Keith again in the group out on the lanai, he found Keith's purple eyes full of concern and already pinned on him.

"It's late," Ray continued. "It's been a long day and I think it would be best if we all got some rest. You can tell us more about your time in space tomorrow."

 _Your_ _time in space_. Lance thought about the way his father had said those words. As if all Lance had to share were some good-natured stories from a summer space camp. But he was exhausted and wasn't about to argue with his father about getting some rest. All of this would probably be better in the morning and he could finish his story then. For now, he brightened at the thought that he was about to curl up with Keith and forget about the sad, pained expressions his family members wore every time they mentioned what it had been like while he'd been gone.

Lance stood then and his parents followed, pulling him into a small group hug. When he was released, the door to the lanai was already sliding open, the hug obviously being enough of a sign for the others that they could come back inside.

"Enough for today," Mora announced. "Everyone off to bed."

Lance got a hug from Gabby, who announced she was staying over, as he watched Keith scoop up their bags. Theo and Mark stood at the entrance to the hallway that led to the bedrooms, and while their gazes lingered on Lance for a few moments, Mark turned towards the guest bedroom —now his and Laney's room — without saying goodnight. Theo and Lance watched him go before Theo at least offered Lance a goodnight wave before walking back towards his own room. Lance's thoughts were distracted away from his brothers as he got a fierce hug from Rosie, her apparent anger at him forgotten long enough for the show of affection. Then Lance hugged his parents once more before he led Keith back to his own room.

When he was back in his own bedroom, he immediately slumped against the back of the closed door. Keith hustled him away from it, though, and pulled him towards one of the beds.

"What'd your parents want?" Keith asked as he slipped his fingers under the hem of Lance's shirt and began to lift it over his head for him.

Lance's lifted his arms to assist. "I think they've got this idea that I've been playing in space all this time without having a second thought to what they've been going through here," Lance responded quietly, giving voice to the fear that had begun to take root earlier during the family meeting.

"They won't think that when you get to tell them the rest," Keith murmured. His gaze dropped to Lance's broad chest, eyes jumping from one familiar scar to the next, visible reminders of how hard their life had been over the past two years. Then he went after the button and zipper on Lance's jeans before he began to push them off his boyfriend's hips.

Lance couldn't help the grin on his face as he watched Keith's look of deep concentration as he pushed Lance to sit on the bed before crouching so he could remove Lance's shoes in order to tug the jeans off all the way.

"Not that I'm complaining, babe, but why are you undressing me?"

Keith pulled him back to his feet so he could pull back the blanket that covered the bed. Then he pushed Lance back onto the mattress just as quickly and covered him with the blanket.

"The only thing I can think to do that will help right now," Keith muttered. He let both hands drop to either side of Lance's shoulders and leaned down to kiss him. He grinned as Lance's lips tried to follow his mouth as he stood again, but he still turned and began to cross the room.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

Keith pointed to the other bed in the room. "To sleep?"

Lance quickly propped himself up on an elbow. "You can't sleep there!"

"You think Mark will be upset if I sleep in his old bed?"

 _Maybe_ , Lance thought based on Mark's earlier behavior. But that wasn't his main point right now. "You can't sleep _way over there_."

Keith glanced dubiously back at Lance. "Lance, these beds aren't meant for two full grown —"

"Keeeith," Lance pleaded. "I can't sleep without you."

Keith opened his mouth as if to protest, but Lance was pretty damn sure Keith couldn't sleep without him anymore, either. And a small smile pulled at his lips the moment he saw Keith give in and head back towards his side of the bedroom.

Then an even broader smile spread across his face as he got to watch the muscles in Keith's torso shift as Keith pulled his own t-shirt over his head. Keith kicked off his boots and tugged off his socks before he could finally remove and toss away his own jeans.

Lance was watching Keith head towards the light switch when he suddenly shot up in bed and threw one of his hands in the air.

"Wait!"

Keith's hand instinctually went towards his waist, momentarily forgetting that he was _only_ in his boxers, and that his bayard was currently sitting next to Lance's on Lance's desktop. He turned towards Lance and found Lance hopping out of bed and heading towards him with a deep frown on his face. Keith could feel his ears flatten against his hair and he quickly glanced around the room to see what could've set Lance off.

With the element of surprise on his side, Lance was able to bend quickly, grab one of Keith's calves, and hoist his leg up high enough so he could get a good look at Keith's reddened ankle without any resistance from Keith. He ignored Keith's curse and the way Keith flailed backwards, catching the corner of Mark's old dresser with one hand to keep himself upright.

"Quiznack! When did Gus-Gus bite you?"

Keith tried to pull his leg free, but when Lance's death grip made it clear he wasn't going anywhere, he sighed in resignation before saying, "Uh, two seconds after you said, _Oh, by the way, we had a dog_."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's not a big deal."

But anxious, blue eyes met his own and before Keith could point out that they had had more pressing matters to attend to that day, Lance dropped his foot so that he could press the back of one hand to Keith's forehead.

"How are you feeling?"

"Uh, tired?"

Lance dropped his hand away from Keith's forehead so that he could pace back and forth for a few ticks. "Last time you got bit by a dog it was, what? Four or five vargas before you developed a fever? It's been way longer than that now, right?"

Keith grabbed Lance's arm to still him as he finally realized what it was Lance was so worried about.

"Lance, I'm _fine_. I've been bitten by Earth dogs before and never had the same reaction as I had to that bite from those weird space puppies."

Lance stared back at him, not entirely convinced that Keith wouldn't brush off a little canine saliva poisoning with everything else that was going on right now.

"I am part Earthling," Keith reminded him, even as his fuzzy ears popped up at the same time that he raised his eyebrows. "I'm likely immune to Earth dog bites."

Lance still had his doubts, but after running the back of his hand across Keith's forehead once more, confirming that he hadn't developed a fever in the last twenty ticks, his worry relented and he pulled Keith into a quick hug. Then he told him to stay put while he ran to the bathroom, returning a few moments later with some neosporin and the biggest band-aid he could find.

Lance pushed Keith to sit and propped his ankle up on the bed so he could kneel beside it and quickly patch him up.

"Why are you scowling at me?" Lance finally asked as he smoothed the band-aid over the bite. "You're the one who should've told me earlier you'd been bitten."

"I was trying to take care of _you_ tonight," Keith grumbled. He fought the urge he had to cross his arms over his chest and pout.

Lance grinned over at him as he threw away the wrapping from the band-aid. He turned the light off and when he returned to the bed, he crawled up Keith's body on purpose, forcing Keith to lie back before he plopped down beside him.

"Come here," Lance whispered as he wrapped himself around Keith and pulled him in close.

"I can't believe we're squeezing ourselves into a twin bed," Keith said, the smile evident in his voice.

"We don't need that much space," Lance murmured into Keith's soft, dark hair.

"Space," Keith parroted back dryly with a frown. "Space got you into this mess."

Lance was so exhausted he wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at Keith's remark. In the end, his shoulders shook for a moment in a strange combination of the two reactions.

He spent the next hour or so listening to Keith's steady inhales and exhales, while breathing in Keith's familiar scent — the rest of his room smelled slightly foreign to him now. He struggled to clear his mind so he could finally get to sleep. When that didn't work, he tried to remind himself of the comfort that came from knowing his parents were just down the hall, which was something he'd missed often while in space.

Then he thought about how strange it was to actually be lying in his old bed. There was a familiarity here that warmed him, even if it wasn't enough to let his mind rest enough to sleep. With his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he let his gaze wander over to Mark's empty bed. The two of them used to talk in this darkened room after they'd been sent to bed each night. And as much as he'd raved about the wonders of having his own room when Mark had left for college, in truth, he'd missed his brother. But, he reminded himself, even though he had missed Mark, he'd at least been lucky enough to know exactly where Mark was. With the added benefit of being able to call him any time he wanted.

If it had been Mark who'd disappeared — or any of his siblings — Lance wasn't sure how he would've managed. His arms tightened around Keith as he thought about how angry Mark was right now. Well, Mark _and_ Rosie. And maybe Theo, although Theo was leaning more towards just being happy to see him, much like Gabby. Thank goodness for Gabby. Even his parents were torn somewhere between grief, sadness, relief, and probably anger.

And, well — _he sighed into the darkness_ — he couldn't really blame them. After all, he did jump into Blue without a thought about his family. Of course, he hadn't expected to fly into space, necessarily. And he certainly hadn't expected to be caught up in a ten thousand year old war to save the universe.

"You're thinking too loud," Keith murmured as he twisted himself around on the narrow mattress to face Lance.

Keith didn't say anything else to him, though. He just slid a hand up to Lance's neck and ran this thumb along the line of Lance's jaw before pressing their lips together. He kissed Lance until Lance's mind finally ceased all other thoughts. He kissed him until Lance finally gave in to sleep.

* * *

Lance's eyes protested the second he tried to open them the next morning. And he didn't need a mirror to know that his eyelids were swollen. And as much as he'd wanted Keith in this bed with him, his body felt sore from the inability to move or stretch in his sleep.

He'd been awake less than ten seconds and he already he felt cranky. He thought about the difference in his mood between first thing yesterday morning — being excited to come home and see his family — to this morning — where he had absolutely zero clue what he was going to face when he left this room.

He had no intentions of hiding, though, and forcibly decided that he was not going to be cranky. He was the blue paladin of Voltron. He was reunited with his family. He had his hot boyfriend currently snuggled into his side. He was going to be cheerful. And he was going to hope that a good night's rest had brightened _everyone's_ outlook for a happier day today. He let a smile cross his face and stretched his arms above his head, nudging Keith in the process as he let out a deep groan.

Keith's face tucked further into the pillow they'd shared as he released a muffled growl in response. Keith was a strange combination of always waking up early, but being grumpy as hell in the process. Kind of like if Oscar the Grouch woke up before the sun rose everyday. Keith had not appreciated this fun analogy when he'd mentioned it to him a few months ago. But Lance smiled every time he thought about it.

"Come on, babe," Lance murmured into Keith's soft hair. He let his fingertips trail up the line of Keith's spine and earned himself a soft noise from Keith's throat in response. "Come to the kitchen with me and I'll feed you breakfast."

Keith turned his head far enough out of the pillow so that one purple eye could focus on Lance's face.

" _Earth food_ breakfast," Lance added.

Keith stretched himself out then as well, and if he was also sore from their cramped sleeping space, he didn't mention it. And while Keith slowly sat up and slid his legs over the side of the bed, Lance jumped up and began pulling dresser drawers open. He tossed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt in Keith's direction and pulled out some clothes for himself as well.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Keith asked as he eyed the khaki shorts Lance had thrown at him. He'd never worn khaki shorts in his entire life.

"One," Lance said as he pulled on his own shorts, "even in October, you will die in the Florida heat if you try to walk around in those black pants of yours." For good measure, Lance snatched the dark jeans off the floor and threw them across the room.

Keith frowned at him. "You think I won't walk over there to get them?"

"And two," Lance continued as he pulled on a tank top, "I'd like to see you in a color that is not black."

"My paladin armor is not black."

Lance shot him an unimpressed look.

Keith sighed and pushed his feet into the shorts he'd been given before he stood and buttoned them. Then he turned the t-shirt over so he could see what was on the front of it. It was a soft, and blue, and the picture on the front was —

"Is this an alligator riding a surfboard?"

Lance moved back to his side and pulled the t-shirt out of Keith's hands so that he could pull it over Keith's head. Keith resigned himself to wearing this as well and pushed his arms through the short sleeves. Then his eyes rose back to Lance's face, because while he was now dressed, Lance still hadn't stepped away. Keith slowly met those bright blue eyes and felt himself grow warm.

"And three," Lance breathed out as he eyed Keith with a hungry look that had nothing to do with promise of Earth food. "I had a feeling you'd look really hot wearing my clothes."

"I thought the whole point was to keep me from overheating?"

Lance's lips quirked up. Keith's tone of voice was innocent, but those purple eyes were _not_.

"I'm pretty sure you're always in danger of overheating around me, Keithy," Lance teased back.

Now it was Keith who moved quickly, and they were kissing before Lance even fully recognized that Keith had shifted into his space, fitting perfectly against him with practiced ease. One hand went to Keith's neck while the other began combing through his hair. Keith's own hands landed on Lance's hips, allowing his thumbs to slip under his shirt and tease his skin.

His thoughts were filled with how soft Keith's hair was, how well his lips moved, how good he smelled, and how adorable the purring noise was when Lance's fingers began to rub over one of those purple fuzzy ears. _Just Keith_. Keith keeping him grounded in what had become a stressful situation.

The growling of Keith's stomach interrupted them and Keith smiled apologetically at him when they broke their kiss. Lance just kissed his nose, took an actual brush to his and then Keith's hair, agreed to keep his bayard on him only if Keith agreed to borrow a pair of his flip flops, and finally led him by the hand out to the main rooms, which were empty except for Gabby who slowly sat up upon their arrival from where she'd been couch surfing.

"What are ya doing out here, Gabs?" Lance asked as he swung Keith around and sat him on a stool at the island. He moved to the pantry and heaved a happy sigh of relief at the sight of all the _real_ food inside.

Gabby stood slowly and began to gather and fold the blankets she'd borrowed the night before. The crick in her neck had her half wishing she'd just gone home to her own apartment last night. But the sight of Lance strolling casually into their parents' kitchen reassured her she'd made the right decision to stay. Although, she was slightly confused as to why he was currently hugging a box of cereal.

"I wasn't about to try to share Rosie's twin bed, and Mark took the guest room when he moved back in," she responded finally through a yawn. "Even added a crib in there for Laney when she was born."

Lance pulled out some bowls and spoons, muscle memory telling him where everything was in this kitchen. He thought about asking the when and why of Mark moving back into their parents' house, but the thought left him as he glanced out the windows that led to their backyard.

"Wait!" he said suddenly, startling Keith who was holding his bowl up patiently as he eyed the cereal box Lance was still clutching, "We have to go to the beach!"

"Huh?" Keith asked as Gabby froze in her steps towards the kitchen island.

"Come on," Lance said, zipping around the island and grabbing Keith's hand. "Beach sunrise first. Breakfast after."

"But —" Keith murmured as he was tugged towards the back door. "Earth food, Lance."

"You coming, Gabby?" Lanced asked, ignoring his own stomach's growls as well as Keith's protests.

"Bip, bip, bip!" Gabby threw one hand around like a stop sign for a moment before she dug out a pen and paper from a drawer. "Unplanned excursions require a note."

Lance froze then as well and felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't thought about how the others would feel when they woke up and found him missing from the house.

"I didn't think about it, either," Keith murmured to him, seeming to read his thoughts. "Is Gabby your Shiro?" he asked with a grin.

Lance scoffed and let Keith's teasing chase away the guilt. "No one needs as much help as you, space cat."

"Are you sure you want to go to the beach?" Gabby asked, managing to call out to him while still keeping her voice low enough not to wake the entire house.

Lance glanced over to her and found her still standing at the island, fiddling with the pen. The way she wasn't meeting his eyes was making him nervous. Plus, she had that look on her face, like she was internally debating whether or not she wanted to tell him something.

"The beach is still there, right?" he asked, unconsciously tightening his hold on Keith's hand as he did his best to add an element of teasing to his voice.

Appearing to make a decision, Gabby offered a small smile and a nod as she moved across the kitchen and followed the boys out the back door. They moved through the lanai into the back yard and then through the back gate. Lance could feel himself getting lighter as he walked the familiar wooded path. He could forget his worries about his family and how much his absence had hurt them at the beach. The beach was a source of fun and good times. And now he'd really have it all, because he could show one of his favorite places off to Keith.

The sand dunes began as the trees thinned out, and Lance kicked off his flip flops before taking his first steps into the sand. There was an audible exhale of pure happiness from him that pulled Keith's lips into a grin. Then he took off in a sprint towards the water, kicking up cool sand behind him until his feet hit ocean. The low tide allowed him to walk out a considerable distance and he stopped when the crashing waves finally reached his knees. Keith and Gabby followed, although not at the same speed, and he took a moment before they reached him to just close his eyes, breathe in the salt air, and listen to the waves.

He didn't leave them shut for long, however. There was a sunrise that needed his attention. The pinks and oranges of the sun shimmered over the waves of the incoming tide, and Lance wrapped one arm around Gabby's shoulders and the other around Keith's to pull them both into his sides as he grinned openly at the scene in front of them.

"This is better than breakfast, right?" he teased over to Keith without taking his eyes off the sunrise.

"Earth food," Keith muttered, but he wrapped his own arm around Lance's waist and dropped a quick kiss to Lance's bare shoulder.

They stayed just like that until the sun's rays began to make them squint. And when he turned to look at Keith, he couldn't help the slow smile that spread across his face or the pull in his gut. Keith's crazy black hair shone in the sunlight, his ears were relaxed, and his eyes were closed in the middle of a purely content expression. Lance was pretty sure he could get a purr out of his boyfriend if his fingers made a move towards those ears right now. But given that his big sister was standing with them, he refrained. But, damn, his space cat looked good in the light of the rising sun. He made a mental note to bring Keith out here another morning. _Alone_.

It was when he looked past Keith to glance down the beach that he noticed a strange collection of items, mainly wreaths and flowers, that he'd never seen on their beach before. Even from this distance, it looked — it looked like a memorial.

"Gabs, what happened down there?" he finally asked as his first thoughts went to their neighbors. He hoped there hadn't been a tragedy on their beach while he'd been away.

Gabby glanced up at him before she looked back out at the water again, not even sparing a glance towards where Lance had nodded.

"Gabby?" Lanced asked again as he felt Keith's fingers tighten protectively around his waist. A cold feeling was seeping in, chasing away the warmth that had filled him from experiencing his first beach sunrise in over two years.

And then all his hard work to stay positive this morning was gone as soon as he saw tears begin to stream down his big sister's face.

Gabby's voice was hoarse as she forced the words out. "You just disappeared, Lance." She finally shifted her eyes towards the one area she'd been trying to avoid seeing since she'd first stepped foot on the beach. "We didn't want it, but the community felt like they should _honor you_ ," she choked out the last words and viciously tried to wipe the tears from her face. "None of us thought you were — but we couldn't stop them. So, we just don't come to the beach anymore."

She offered a little shrug, as if _we just don't come to the beach anymore_ was in any way okay for a McClain family member to say. It was right up there with _Your papá and brother have been gone for a year looking for you_.

Lance dropped his arms from both of them and took off in another sprint towards the memorial — _his memorial_. His own eyes filled again as he felt pure anger at the visible representation of his family's grief, just propped up here in this sacred beach of his childhood. It had no right to be here, tormenting his family. He stopped just short of it to take in the full picture. There were stacks and stacks of seashells, some which had his name visibly written across them. But even more chilling than that were that the wreaths and flowers he'd spotted before — some old and wilting while others looked fresh — were all surrounding a brand new concrete bench.

His hands began to shake when he saw _his name_ engraved across the seat of the bench with a quote etched in beneath it:

 _I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky_

He threw himself at the wreaths and flowers. He ripped and shredded until they were destroyed as Gabby's tears refused to leave his vision — the first he'd seen her cry that were actually pure sadness since his arrival. Then he raged against the seashell displays as his parents' tears and near disbelief of where he'd been filled his mind. Followed by Mark's anger. The fact that he was a complete stranger to Mark's daughter. He flung what he couldn't destroy, sending bits of wreath and seashell pieces to land in the dunes or towards the ocean. The direction didn't matter as long as it wasn't all still congregated here in one spot. His hands continued to shake because Theo was suffering, obviously unsure of which emotion to settle on for Lance's return. And then Rosie, the little one they'd all protected and watched over, who was now clearly filled with relief, but also righteous anger as she'd had a front row seat to their mother's suffering.

He shredded the final wreath as he finally admitted anger at himself. He hadn't known when he'd stepped into Blue what he was getting into. But he'd still jumped through a black hole and flown away into space without looking back. And while he may have thought that his family was missing him, he obviously had no fucking clue how much his sudden, unexplained absence would've shook them.

He turned to kick and attack the bench next. But before his foot could connect, strong and familiar arms wrapped around his waist and spun him. A few curses flew out of his mouth as he was pulled away from the next object on his destructive path.

"You'll break your foot," Keith grunted as he yanked Lance backward. He lost his footing in the sand and ended up on his ass with a lapful of Lance. Keith didn't push for them to stand again, however. Instead, he used his palms to wipe away the tears on Lance's cheeks before he grabbed Lance's hands in order to examine them. "You really did a number here," he murmured, looking over the small bloody cuts that came from destroying plants and shells.

But Lance barely heard him as his chest continued to heave and his limbs shook. He didn't notice that Gabby was gone as he turned a glare back towards the death bench.

"Focus on me," Keith whispered. He slid his hands up and down Lance's arms and began to press a few kisses to Lance's jaw. "Focus on me, baby," Keith whispered again.

Lance shuddered out that anger, along with the sadness that was its root, and let his muscles finally relax in Keith's hold. He ducked his face into Keith's neck, away from the memorial, and shook his head.

"Still can't believe now is when you decided to pull out a pet name," he mumbled into Keith's skin as one of Keith's hands moved up to card through his hair. He stared past the black hair curled around Keith's neck to watch the waves. There was a soft pressure at the base of his skull that almost felt like Blue, although he wasn't sure if he'd ever felt anything from her at this distance before. He did his best to match his inhales and exhales to Keith's as he wrapped his own arms around Keith.

He wasn't sure how long they sat there like that, but Keith didn't seem to mind, so Lance stayed. He stayed until his mother's sad blue eyes filled his vision and her hands cupped his face. And when he glanced up, he found his entire family standing there in the sand, all looking as if they'd been dragged out of bed, even little Laney was still in her pajamas. Gabby looked slightly guilty, but he couldn't really blame her for running back to the house to fetch everyone. He'd probably have done the same thing if one of his siblings had suddenly gone nuts.

He slowly stood and pulled Keith up as well. He felt like he owed them all an apology, but before he could even begin to think about how to word it, Keith grabbed his attention by shaking his shoulder and nodding towards the sky.

Lance's mouth dropped open as he watched Blue beeline straight for them. She landed rather gently in the surf, his girl was at home in the water after all, and then sent a low rumble down to the small group standing on the beach. With the pressure he'd felt earlier now confirmed to have come from Blue, Lance was next treated to a soft buzzing over his skin. He stood still and let Blue check over him for injuries as he sent a small, although genuine, smile up to his lion.

He heard Keith's phone ring and listened with only half an ear as Keith answered the call, just to make the castle wasn't under attack.

"Hey beautiful," he murmured up to Blue. "Did you come to check on me?" The rumble she sent in response almost knocked him back a step. Clearly, she didn't appreciate being worried about her paladin.

"Yeah, Shiro, she's here." Keith said as he turned back to Lance. "We're okay, Lance was just — upset. Blue must've sensed it."

"Pfft," Lance said, allowing himself another small grin up to Blue. "Of course she sensed it. I knew Keith and Red weren't bonded tighter than you and me big girl."

Blue sent her paladin an indignant sniff. There was no way any of the paladins were as bonded as she was to her boy. Just because she wasn't being constantly forced to fly off to fetch a wayward, floating-through-open-space-AGAIN-paladin — _seriously_ , _how many times had Red had to do that at this point_? Anyway, she was getting side-tracked — just because she'd never had to do that before, didn't mean she wasn't ready to jump if Lance needed her. And based on the level of anguish she'd felt earlier, he needed her now. And while there was happiness to see her, she could still feel the anguish rolling over him, even if he was beginning to do that thing where he was going to shove it down deep and cover it with one of his charming grins.

"We'll figure something out," Keith said before hanging up the phone and then nodding over Lance's shoulder in order to send Lance's attention behind him.

Lance turned and was presented with absolute shock on every single one of his family member's faces. Kind of like when they'd first seen him yesterday, only without the tears. Laney, too, appeared highly confused by the giant metal lion who stood staring down at them.

"This is Blue," Lance finally said to them. He glanced between his shocked family and his best girl before settling his sights back on Blue. "Feel like giving my family a ride?"

Blue lowered herself on her front paws and dropped her jaw in response.

* * *

"And, uh," Lance said under the confused stares of Shiro, Allura, and Coran. "That's how we ended up here."

Keith smiled to himself as watched Lance try to explain how it was that the entire McClain family had ended up in the Castle of Lions. Although she was larger than Red, he'd been slightly surprised that they'd all fit. But the looks of amazement and awe directed at Lance as he'd piloted them off that beach and up to the castle had been worth being squished into the middle of a group of loud, chattering McClains.

"Blue, say hi to everyone," Lance had asked as soon as they were all onboard, and they'd each been treated to a soft purr at the base of their skulls, distinctly different from what Keith was used to from Red.

"Oye! What the hell was that?"

"Language, Theo."

"Are we actually going to into space right now?"

"What's this button do?"

"Are there seatbelts?"

"Like _outer_ space?"

"The size of this lion and there aren't any more places to sit?"

"What happens if I push this button?"

"Is there a radio?"

"Can I steer? You'd let your favorite little brother steer, right?"

Lance had remained unusually quiet as he piloted them towards the castle ship, and since there wasn't much Keith could do for him in their current setting, he let himself admire how good Lance looked in just a tank top and shorts in that pilot seat. Lance's long, pretty fingers also captured his attention as they moved smoothly over Blue's controls. It was a much better image than Lance crying and tearing apart that awful memorial on the beach.

He refocused and thought about the last time he'd been squished into Blue's cockpit like this, on the very day they'd found Blue. He thought about Lance's crazy piloting that first time out, and the way he'd pressed his forehead into Lance's soft hair as they'd all held on for dear life during Lance's crazy maneuvers. He wondered if Lance had even noticed the closeness at the time.

The five of them really hadn't known what they were getting into that day. Voltron was important. That was a given. The bond between lion and paladin was important. Their team and what they'd accomplished and what they were going to accomplish in the future was important. But, there were times when Keith wondered if the whole point of the energy he'd felt in the desert and the way they'd all been thrown together was _more important_ than all that. Because sometimes he thought Lance's smile was more important than saving the universe. Or hearing Lance laugh. Or kissing him. He let himself selfishly think in those moments that maybe the whole purpose of his joining Voltron was just to give him something good in his life. Like maybe the universe finally noticed that he'd been all alone and had decided to correct that mistake.

Then he vowed to _never_ say these things out loud to Lance. Lance liked to say that he was the sappy one between the two of them, and Keith was fine with keeping it that way.

Once Blue was happily sitting in her hangar again, Keith watched Lance's family slowly exit the large lion and stare with wide eyes at the new surroundings. Of course, they'd all briefly met Coran the day before, but now they also stared not only at Princess Allura, but they were also openly staring at Shiro, and Keith reminded himself that most Earthlings thought Takashi Shirogane was dead.

"You haven't even been gone a whole quintent," Shiro murmured with a smirk as he moved over to Keith's side while Lance officially introduced his family to Princess Allura. There was some awkward bowing going on, followed by some happy exclamations from Gabby about Allura's hair.

"Shiro," Keith said sharply on an exhale as he turned his back to the McClains. "It's — it's not what _either of us_ were expecting." There was a pull on the bottom hem of his — _Lance's_ — shorts and he reached down and picked up Laney without a second thought. He situated her on his hip and maneuvered his head a bit to avoid tiny fingers on his ears as he continued to speak. "They've been so worried," Keith continued, "and they don't really understand yet what any of this is about. Lance hasn't even been able to tell them the whole story. Like, I don't think the word _Voltron_ has even left his mouth yet."

Shiro was trying to be a good friend, especially since Keith looked sincerely worried. But it was currently difficult to keep a giddy smile off his face. Because Keith had just picked up a toddler. _Like it was no big deal_. And he didn't even seem a tiny bit put off by the fact that the little girl was going after his ears like it was her full time job.

"They're relieved and happy to see him, but they're mostly — angry?" Keith shook his head as he continued, and his ears flicked back tight against his hair. Laney finally gave up on her quest and stuck one thumb in her mouth as she let her head cuddle against Keith's shoulder.

Amused or not, Shiro was listening, and he turned his attention to Lance's family. He could understand their worry, but wished the reunion was going a little smoother for everyone. He made eye contact with Allura and lifted one eyebrow in question. She nodded back to him quickly.

"I think we have something that can help," Shiro said in a low voice to both Keith and Lance, who had made his way over to them. "For now, Lance, why don't you give your family a tour?"

"Sure," Lance said, only half-listening. Part of his brain was struck by how unfairly adorable Keith was right now as Laney cuddled against him, while the other half of his brain was trying to listen in on Coran's worryingly enthusiastic conversation with his parents.

"I'll take her," Mark announced as he appeared in front of Keith.

Keith avoided eye contact as he gingerly handed Laney over to her father.

"We've had some great adventures up here!" Coran was currently saying to Lance's parents. "Why, on Lance's second day, he jumped like a sprightly clovenheifer to save my life from a massive explosion!"

"So," Lance said, slapping his hands together loudly as his parents gaped back at Coran. Lance furrowed his eyebrows and vehemently shook his head at Coran, while he also thought about Mark's continued coldness towards Keith. "Tour time?"

"We'll meet with you in the main common room after you've shown your family around," Allura said with a nod to Lance. "We think we have something that may be of interest to everyone."

Lance watched them walk off before shooting a look at Keith who shrugged his shoulders in response, also confused by what Shiro and Allura could have for them.

"Okay, well, each of the lions have their own hangars, and this is obviously Blue's place to spend all her free time on the castle," Lance said, waving his hand around the large hangar. He glanced from one face to another quickly before he turned to lead them out. Most were wide-eyed and slightly confused, although Gabby and Theo looked openly excited.

"What's your lion like, Keith?" Theo asked as they walked.

"Her name is Red," Keith responded.

"They wield the sword," Lance added with a quick, proud smile in Keith's direction.

"A sword?" Rosie asked. She trailed behind Mark and Laney while their parents took up the rear of the group.

"Yup," Lance answered proudly. "He's pretty badass in direct comba —"

Lance cut himself off, although probably not soon enough to hide that last word. But his family probably needed to be eased into this a little more slowly.

"Keith's bayard becomes a sword," he finally added.

"What's a bayard?" Ray asked.

Lance raised his eyebrows to Keith, and Keith responded by pulling his bayard from his belt, while mumbling something about how he bet Lance was happy they'd had them on them when they left the house. Then he activated his bayard only long enough to display the sword for Lance's family.

"Cool," Theo breathed out while Mark did his best not to look impressed by shifting Laney to his other hip and unnecessarily adjusting her little footie pajamas.

"What about you, Lance? Do you have a bayard?" Rosie asked, suddenly much more interested in hearing more from her big brother.

"Every paladin has a bayard," Lance said with a nod.

"And a paladin is?"

"Paladins are the chosen pilots of Voltron's lions," Lance said as his two younger siblings suddenly crowded his sides, quickly reminding him of how much taller they'd both grown while he'd been away.

"So what does your bayard magically change into?" Theo asked.

"Lance is our sharpshooter," Keith said with a prideful grin of his own.

Lance grinned back, easily bolstered once again by a few words from Keith. He pulled his own bayard and activated it for a moment to let his family have a look at his rifle.

"Lance is also often our eagle eye," Keith added. "He provides cover for us."

Lance's eyes softened as he watched Keith do his best to try to reassure his family that — although they were often in danger out in the field, something the rest of the McClains didn't need to necessarily know right now — that maybe they'd feel better knowing that sometimes Lance was in an _infinitesimally_ _less_ amount of danger than the rest of them as he sat perched _above_ the fighting.

"This is the med bay," Keith was forced to say since Lance had stopped outside of it a few moments ago, but had done nothing since but stare at him with a look that was turning Keith's neck and face a little pink.

"Right, right," Lance said, swinging on his heel in order to lead them inside. He activated a healing pod, his hours helping Coran clean giving him detailed knowledge of how everything in this room operated.

"What are these?" Mora asked as she watched the strange tube rise from the floor.

"Well, Coran mentioned that I was involved in a —" Lance paused, finding it difficult to continue when faced with his family's concerned faces. "A small explosion," he finally said, although there had been nothing small about it. "So they stuck me in one of these and it fixed me right up."

Gabby peered closely inside the tube. There didn't seem to be anything inside that would qualify as medical equipment. "Can it fix any medical condition?"

"Everything we've needed so far. Cured Keith of some nasty bacteria he got from a space puppy bite. Oh, and this other time, Keith had a pretty nasty shoulder injury —"

"Like a dislocation?" Theo asked, thinking about how one of the guys on his soccer team had had a shoulder dislocated during a game a couple weeks ago.

"More like a deep — cut," Lance said, deciding that _deep cut_ sounded better than _almost had his arm lobbed off during a weird alien 'Knowledge or Death' ritual._ "And it fixed him right up too. He barely has a scar. So, plenty of health care options. We've been well taken care of in that regard."

"What's with the sign?" Rosie asked, pointing to their _Days since Paladin Required a Healing Pod_ sign.

"We think it's meant to be motivating," Lance replied.

Keith nodded in agreement as he eyed the number — they were up to 26 days.

Lance's mother stared with wide eyes at the healing pod before it began to lower back into the floor. Her brain had provided a heartbreaking image of her son, _unconscious from an explosion_ , placed into one of these contraptions. She glanced around the large, somewhat cold room. He'd been seriously hurt and she hadn't been there. How was any of this even possible?

She slipped her fingers into Ray's hand as they followed Lance out of the medical bay. She had understood and encouraged Ray's absence over the last year — _they couldn't just not look for their son_. But she had missed him dearly. And she felt a familiar wave of reassurance now as she felt Ray's fingers curl in response around her own. Lance was back. Ray and Mark were back. This whole spaceship castle — _complete with a princess_ — was a little surreal, but they'd all get through this. Together.

And as they walked down another hallway, she considered the way Keith's fingers fit effortlessly into Lance's hand as they walked ahead of the group. And she watched the way Lance tugged gently on Keith's hand as he murmured something into one of Keith's fluffy ears. Keith responded by chuckling and shaking his head in response.

Mora took a few breaths to loosen the tightness in her chest. Because maybe he didn't say much, and maybe he was part alien — that story hadn't been told yet — but with Keith here, Lance hadn't been alone. Lance had had someone watching over him, someone to be himself with, and obviously someone to dote on, something she knew her Lancito would excel at. That boy was loving, easily the most loving out of all of her children. The truth was, Lance thrived when he was sharing affection with others.

It was one of the reasons the family had fallen apart in his absence.

"Now, here is a room where we have not been well taken care of as well," Lance said as he led the way into the dining hall.

Gabby frowned at him as she ran her fingertips over the fancy chairs at the long table. "Like they didn't feed you often?"

"They are fed three solid meals a day!" Coran said, suddenly joining them with a tray full of food. He set the tray on the table and indicated that the McClain family should be seated. "Keith mentioned none of you had had breakfast yet, so I whipped you up an Altean breakfast."

"Which, if you're here long enough, you'll realize bears an uncanny resemblance to Altean lunch and dinner," Keith muttered. But he led the way and took his seat at the table.

Lance sat next to him and could only smile as the rest of his family sat down as well. It wasn't his family's dinner table in their home, but it was the first time they'd all been at a table together since his return. He grabbed Keith's hand again as he took a few moments to let his eyes drift from family member to family member. They were all staring curiously at the bowls Coran was placing in front of them before their eyes moved to Lance and Keith. Keith was already digging into his food goo. Lance picked up his spoon and began to eat as well.

"How about some nunvil for this special occasion?" Coran asked.

Lance lightly choked on the goo he was trying to swallow. "No! No thank you, Coran."

Coran frowned lightly at him, but then spun on his heel and called out over his shoulder, "Alright, well, I'll see you in the common room in about one varga!"

"Thanks, Coran!"

"What's a varga?" Theo whispered over to Gabby. She shrugged in response.

"So, Coran, the one who picked me and Mark up in the desert, is the one you called the space uncle, right?" Ray asked, once the alien had left the room.

Lance nodded. "He's Princess Allura's royal advisor. He's kept us fed, oversees us in the healing pods, helped direct some of our training exercises, keeps the castle running, and does his best to teach us about different alien cultures as we encounter them."

"Does his best?" Mora asked.

"He dressed us all up like space pirates once," Keith said, feeling comfortable enough to jump into the conversation while he was seated in such a familiar setting. "Because he said we were going to a shady swap meet."

Lance chuckled. "Instead we ended up in a shiny, modern space mall," Lance added. "It's where I got _Kaltenecker_ _._ I'll introduce you to her later."

Rosie shot a look to her other siblings and Lance only grinned when it was clear his little sister wasn't sure she wanted to know what his _Kaltenecker_ was.

"Anyway, dig in," Lance said, lifting his spoon as a silent cheers before taking another bite.

His family slowly followed. The looks and sounds of disgust that followed next might've been funny if the food had actually been a joke — his dad had even dropped his spoon in shock — but since the food goo had been his reality for the past two years, Lance just shrugged and took another bite.

"How are you both still eating that?" Gabby stared across at Lance and Keith after she'd forced her own bite down and slid her bowl a few inches away from her.

"Went all the way to Earth, still didn't get any real food to eat," Keith murmured as he side-eyed Lance.

"It's pretty much our only option up here," Lance said around a bite as he ignored Keith's complaint. "You get used to it."

"This is all you've been eating for two years?" Mora asked, her hand was back on her chest and her eyes were dangerously close to watering.

"It's really not so terrible, Mamá," Lance insisted. He couldn't have his mother also crying over the food he'd been eating! "Plus, occasionally a planet will have a celebration in our honor and it will include their own versions of food," Lance said, scratching the side of his face as he thought about it.

"Wait, celebrations in your honor?" Mora asked. Most of the others around the table seemed to sit up and take interest in this as well.

Lance smiled back at her, happy that this topic was warding off her tears. "Just to say thank you."

Ray frowned. Lance was obviously eager to share his experiences with them, and admittedly, he'd cut Lance off last night before he could get very far. It was enough for him to have Lance back in front of him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know the truth of what Lance had been doing in his time away. Especially now that he knew there really were magical robot lions, and transforming weapons, and _aliens_. Although, even knowing that Lance had been doing something that warranted thankfulness from entire planets was uplifting, it still left him with a sour pit in his stomach. Because his son had been in way more danger than he could've ever imagined.

"So, yeah, we've had some other food options at these celebrations. Although, even then, it's alien food, right? So we always have to scan it first because sometimes its —" he shot a look to Keith for help.

"It can be unintentionally poisonous to humans," Keith provided.

"But you're _not_ human," Mark said, eyes focused intently on Keith. Laney was seated in his lap and was happily scooping goo out of Mark's bowl with her fingers, apparently the only one of the visiting McClains who was enjoying the meal.

"Not _entirely_ ," Keith said, and Lance watched Keith's face go blank — his defense mechanism when he was holding back another, less favorable expression. "It's still bad for the part of me that is human."

Keith's warm fingers landed a hand on the tight fist Lance was forming on the table top between them and Lance exhaled a sharp breath. "Well, if you're not going to finish, we can keep going." Lance rose and pulled Keith up with him, unwilling to let go of his hand. He ran his thumb over the back of Keith's hand as he led the way to the main control deck.

His family members were wide-eyed once again as they stared out into space while Lance gave a brief explanation of how most of the things seen on Star Trek movies could be accomplished from this room, a comparison which received an eye roll and a fond smile from Keith. Mainly, he showed them Allura's spot and explained black hole jumps before he showed off his and Keith's chairs as well.

Then he guided them out of the control room and around the winding hallways towards their next stop.

"And now we come to Keith's favorite room," Lance said, throwing his arms out in front of him as they walked into the training room. "In here, we spar with gladiators and each other. Plus there's this crazy attack droid simulation. Um, what else?" he asked, turning to Keith.

"There's the electric maze."

"Oh, yeah! There's an invisible maze that has an electrical current running through its walls."

"That sounds — awful," Gabby said.

"Yeah, it definitely was at first," Lance said with a nod. "I'd give you a demonstration, but it's probably not a good idea with Laney here."

"Gladiators, weapons, and electrocution, yeah let's keep moving," Rosie said, backing her way back towards the doors.

* * *

Keith stepped back as Lance led his family into their bedroom. He didn't really mind Lance's parents and siblings seeing their personal space, or the bed he was sharing with Lance, but decided maybe he didn't need to be standing right next to it at the same time? He rubbed the back of his neck a little as he thought about their large, comfortable castle bed compared to the narrow twin they'd shared last night. Lance was right when he said they didn't really need that much space. They did generally sleep fairly close to each other. But damn, that bed had been narrow, and Keith was pretty sure Lance underestimated just how broad those swimmer's shoulders of his were.

He looked up when the door slid open and Mark entered the hallway. Keith caught a glimpse of Laney running around the room behind him before the door slid shut again. Mark immediately appeared surprised upon seeing Keith, and Keith realized Mark had likely not even noticed that Keith wasn't among the crowd inside. He appeared to debate whether or not he should stay or go, but after a moment, Keith watched Mark sag against the opposite wall.

This was the first time Keith had been alone with Mark, and he chewed on his lower lip as he waited to see if Mark was going to say something. But when Mark proceeded to just stand there and glare lightly at the wall beside Keith, Keith began to wonder if maybe he should say something. Normally he'd avoid small talk with a stranger at all costs, but since this was Lance's brother, he decided to make an effort.

"There's not much to see in there," Keith finally said and watched as Mark's eyes flicked over to his face. "I mean, we didn't have a chance to pack or anything when we left Earth. Although, Lance does pick up rocks and things from some of the planets we visit." Keith wondered if he should stop. Mark didn't look all that interested. For some reason, his mouth kept going. "Lance was talking about bringing family photos back with him after this, though, so I guess we'll have —"

Keith's hands flew up suddenly as Mark launched himself across the hallway towards him. He let Mark grab fistfuls of his shirt and knock him back against the wall.

"What do you mean bring photos back?"

Keith swallowed carefully and stared back at Mark's angry face. Mark's eyes were a slightly darker shade of blue than Lance's, for which Keith was grateful, because there was a hardness in Mark's eyes that Keith never wanted to see in Lance's eyes.

Mark shook him a little when he didn't answer. The two were practically the same height, and Keith knew instinctually that he was stronger than Mark. But he couldn't raise his fists to Lance's brother.

 _Don't fight. Don't fight. Don't fight_.

"He's not yours," Mark growled. "You don't get to just take him away! You don't get to just scoop him up out of the Garrison! He's not supposed to vanish into space!"

One fist let go of Keith's t-shirt so that it could fly towards Keith's side. Keith twisted and blocked the blow aimed for his rib cage, forcing Mark to let go of him completely, which just meant that now Mark had two fists flying towards Keith. Keith shifted away from where Mark had cornered him against the wall and began to move backwards down the hallway, using his own hands to knock away Mark's fists as Mark followed and continued to shout his frustrations out at Keith.

When Keith ducked under another fist, one of his flip flop-covered feet slipped on the floor, sending him sprawling to the hard ground. Mark took advantage of his sudden flailing to land on him, and Keith gasped as Mark's full weight on his chest knocked the wind out of him. He tried to curl his legs up or roll to the side to help force air back into his lungs, but Mark's weight stayed there, pinning him in place as he coughed.

"He doesn't belong to the fucking universe!"

Mark's hands grabbed at Keith's shirt and jerked him forward, and while it was uncomfortable, Keith was thankful he didn't have to try to block any more punches while he was still trying to force air back in his lungs.

"He belongs to us!" Mark continued. "He's —"

Then Mark's weight left him as Lance suddenly tackled Mark from the side, sending the two McClain brothers to wrestle next to Keith.

Mora and Gabby dropped to the ground next to Keith and helped push him into a seated position as he continued to gasp and cough. He reached an arm out, a sad attempt in his state to try to reach Lance, but Mora shook her head and rested a hand on his forearm while her other hand gently patted his back. So he sat with the others and watched as Ray and Theo did their best to jump in and pull the two brothers apart.

"You take it out on me if you're mad!"

Pure fury contorted Lance's face and Keith flinched as Lance landed a tight fist — _Lance learned that technique from him_ — into Mark's right cheekbone. Mark would be feeling it later, but right now it looked like his anger was protecting him from the pain.

Ray pushed his way in between his two feuding sons and pressed a hand to both of their chests to separate them while Theo tried to pull at Mark's shoulders.

"Mad? I'm way past mad, hermanito! Have you told mom and dad yet that you haven't _actually_ returned to us? That you're just down on Earth for a visit? That you're planning on coming back _here_?"

Ray visibly shuddered and turned his full attention to Lance with shock all over his face, while Keith had the unhappy position of being about six inches away from Mora's immediate tears. He dared a glance over at Gabby and knew from her own heartbroken face that they weren't going to get much help from her on this one.

With his breathing finally under control, he slowly stood and offered a hand to Mora to help her stand as well. He glanced briefly over at Theo and Rosie, plus Laney who was in Rosie's arms. They were standing by silently, neither able to make eye contact with anyone else.

"Is that true?" Ray finally whispered out to Lance.

Lance visibly swallowed. But his shoulders lifted as he managed to stand a little straighter. He took a step back, away from the hand his father had had pressed to his chest.

"I haven't been able to finish telling you the story about where I've been or what I've been doing."

Lance sounded determined, despite the fact that his voice shook as he spoke, and it made Keith stand a little taller as well.

"There you all are," Allura's voice reached them from the other end of the hallway. If she noticed all the tears streaming down faces as everyone turned towards her, she didn't comment on it. "If you're finished with the tour, I'd like to invite you to come with me. We have something to share with you."

"I think we're finished with the tour," Lance said quietly before he half-heartedly lifted a hand towards Allura, indicating to his family that they head towards her.

Keith watched the McClains pass glances back and forth that he couldn't decipher before they seemed to make the group decision to follow Allura. Keith stood back and waited as they trudged past him, keeping his eyes on Lance the whole time. Lance looked like he was in physical pain and Keith felt his own chest grow tight.

And then Lance was in front of him, cupping his face in both of his hands and looking him over. His fingertips were gentle on Keith's skin and it took Keith a moment to realize Lance was checking for damage from Mark.

He slowly pulled Lance's hands down and apologetically shook his head. "I'm sorry, Lance," Keith whispered. "I fucked up and I'm so sorry. I didn't realize — _I didn't even think_ about them not knowing that you weren't going to stay —"

There was a soft growling noise from Lance's throat as he pulled Keith into a hug. "It's my own damn fault for not telling them right away." He exhaled a frustrated breath and dropped his head to Keith's shoulder. "I just — I just didn't know how to do it."

Keith let his fingers card through Lance's hair while his other arm wrapped tightly around Lance. "I don't blame you, Lance. We've both seen them. Your return alone has been — overwhelming."

Lance nodded, but didn't say anything else on the subject. "You're okay, though?" he murmured into Keith's neck.

Keith nodded. "I'm not recommending flip flops during combat," he tried to tease, "but yeah, Lance, I'm fine."

Lance didn't laugh, though. Instead he pressed his face further into crook of Keith's neck. "I'm sorry Keith."

"For what?"

"You trusted me," Lance murmured with a small shake of his head. "You trusted me and I stuck you right in the middle of this huge mess with my family."

"Hey." Keith nudged Lance's face with his shoulder, forcing the other to life his head and meet his eyes. "We fought in a war against a tyrannical ruler who managed to reign terror for ten thousand years over entire galaxies."

Lance lifted an eyebrow in question.

"We can handle a little family drama," Keith stated simply.

A few ticks went by before Lance said, "Who are you, optimistic stranger, and what have you done with my grumpy space cat?"

Keith looped his fingers in with Lance's and began to lead him in the direction the others had gone. He let a small smile pull at his lips if only because Lance had allowed one on his own face. They walked in silence through the hallways, with Keith peering up at Lance's serious face from time to time.

Mainly because he was concerned about Lance. But, maybe also because serious Lance was seriously handsome, and Keith let himself drink in the image before switching back to being concerned.

"You don't have to be the optimistic one all the time, you know," Keith quietly said when they'd reached the doors of the main common room. "We're in this together. And I can try to pick up the slack when you need me to."

The urge to hide himself and Keith away somewhere slipped away with every second that Keith stared up at him with that earnest, open expression. Lance's brother had just _attacked Keith_ and Keith was _still_ trying to stay optimistic for him. He dipped his forehead to Keith's before whispering, "I'm lucky to have you, space cat."

"Back at ya, sharpshooter."

Lance's lips crushed onto Keith's, but Keith met the insistent kiss by pushing right back into Lance, sharing the strength he had with the most important person in his life. And when the kiss was over, Lance was standing tall again. And he was smiling.

"Not gonna lie, I'm slightly worried about what Allura has set up behind these doors."

Keith just grinned in response and bravely hit the panel to slide the doors open. And then their mouths dropped open when they got their first glimpse inside.

"Hunk!" Lance beelined for a hug from his friend, and Keith did the same as he happily headed towards Pidge and Matt. Had it really been less than a day since they'd all seen each other? Then they swapped and Keith got a Hunk hug while Lance greeted the Holt siblings. The surprise didn't end there, however, as they were quickly introduced to Mrs. Holt, as well as Hunk's parents and his own little brother.

"Allura really wanted to talk to everyone's families," Shiro said, coming up behind the small group and taking a spot next to Keith. "And since we were hearing from everyone that the reunions were a little rougher than expected, she asked that I go pick up everyone else while you and Lance gave the McClains a tour."

"Talk to everyone about what?" Keith asked.

"She'll explain in a tick. Hey, did Lance's brother have that bruise on his face earlier?"

Keith's eyes drifted over to Mark. He stood near his parents as Ray and Mora hugged Hunk's parents. And there was definitely a large bruise forming on his cheek.

"I didn't do that," Keith said.

"I didn't say you did," Shiro said around a half-grin.

"Rule two: no fighting," Keith added begrudgingly.

"But you've wanted to fight?"

Keith offered a half shrug. Shiro patted his shoulder. "We'll see if this little meeting helps."

* * *

When everyone was seated on various couches around the room, Allura stood in front of the group, hands clasped together in a friendly gesture, warm smile on her face.

"I would like to thank you for sharing your family members with us," she stated. "I know it was completely unintentional, and if given the choice, you may have chosen differently for them. And I thought it might be a good idea to share with you what they have been doing since they left Earth. You see, my own father left me to walk in his footsteps with a legacy he left behind called Voltron. And as magnificent and powerful as Voltron can be, its nothing without its paladins. Hunk, Lance, Pidge, Keith, and Shiro," — she paused to look at each of them — "they were thrown into this life and into a ten thousand year old war. And they stepped up and not only bonded with their lions, which is something mystical in nature that cannot be forced, but they also bonded with each other as a team. They defeated Zarkon. And their names will forever be included in our history books."

Lance perked up at that. "Wait, can we see these books? Are there going to be pictures of us?"

"I can do you one better than that, Lance," Allura said with a smile. "In fact, the reason I invited you all here is because we're about to approach Earth's officials in the hopes that they will also want to join the Voltron Alliance. However, as the paladins recently pointed out to us, Earth is one of the few places completely unaware of life on other planets."

"Yes, very very true fact," Hunk's dad stated. He sat with one hand resting on Hunk's shoulder and still looked a little wide-eyed about being on a spaceship himself.

"So, Coran and I thought the best way to break the news to them would be to actually show them some footage."

"Where did the footage come from?" Pidge asked with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, we've got cameras here and there," Allura said with a nonchalant wave of her hand that had Lance, Keith, Pidge, and Hunk all exchanging a suspicious look at this new information. "Including in the training room, the main deck, the eyes of the lions, outside the castle —"

"We've got some excellent Voltron formation footage from those cameras, actually," Coran interjected with a grin.

"— plus that footage you pulled from Beta Traz, Pidge," Allura added with her own grin in Shiro's direction.

Shiro averted his eyes and suddenly became very interested in the hem of his shirt, much to both Allura's and Keith's amusement. Allura decided to let Shiro sweat it out a little, and not tell him that none of his interactions with Slav made it into their final video.

"Wait, so you, like, made a _promotional video_ about Voltron?" Lance asked.

"It's a video highlighting the bond between a paladin and their lion," Coran stated with a twirl to his mustache. "And demonstrates the ability of a team to work together for a common goal, which we will show the Earth officials so they have an understanding of what it is we're doing."

"Oh, okay," Lance said. "That's a promotional video."

"It will be added to our history books," Allura said firmly. "Altea may be gone, but Voltron's history will be shared with all alliance members so that this legacy will never be forgotten."

"Would anyone like something to snack on during the show?" Coran asked.

"No!" several McClain family members answered.

Coran frowned at them and then glanced to Pidge's mother and Hunk's family. They appeared a little startled by the outbursts from the McClains and finally decided to slowly shake their heads in response.

"Well then, let's hit the lights!"

Keith sat perched on the edge of his seat on the couch, his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward to watch exactly what kind of movie Allura and Coran had pulled together. He felt Lance's hand land on his back as Lance leaned back into the couch beside him.

The beginning footage was something none of the current paladins had ever seen. It was King Alfor himself as he described the dream of creating a bonded team that would explore the universe together.

"I'd like to be gentle explorers mapping out the universe, but we will also be a powerful team, ready and available to help those who need it."

This was followed by additional video diary logs from King Alfor, where he explained that one of Voltron's paladins, Zarkon, had defected, and had revealed plans to lead a Galran army intent on destruction. He then explained that he was going to hide his daughter, as well as Voltron's lions, away from Zarkon.

The paladins' heads seemed to move as one then as they all glanced towards Allura, as it was likely her father's final diary entry. She met their concern with a small smile and a shake of her head to indicate she was fine. Her father's dream was coming true because of these five people, and she hoped that she could help repay them by sharing their good deeds with their families.

Then their attention was whipped back to the screen as Coran's voice was suddenly heard as a narration added to the footage. "Ten thousand years went by before a new set of paladins arrived, awakened Altea's Princess Allura, and reunited the lions."

Lance leaned forward so that his shoulder brushed Keith's as footage of their first day appeared on the screen. Allura stood on the main control deck and began describing the features of each lion's personal paladin. He glanced at each of his teammates as he listened once again to the descriptions, words he'd almost forgotten. It was incredible to think how well they encompassed the qualities Allura described, and what perfect matches they'd each been for their lions.

"You have human ears there, dude," Theo whispered from Keith's other side. "Do they, like, retract?"

Keith huffed out a noise, although he was also struck by the image of himself before the Galra-ear transformation. The Keith on screen, the one seen bickering on and off with Lance, had had no clue what was in store for him.

"No, they don't go back and forth," Keith answered quietly in return. "They just didn't appear until later."

"Oh, cool," Theo said before he went back to paying attention to the screen.

Coran's voice continued to narrate, as clips from the training deck was shared, including Keith and Lance working together against the drones, Hunk sending Pidge through the invisible maze, the entire team fighting together through a battle simulation, and then Keith sparring alone against two of the gladiators.

Keith's sword sliced the leg off one before spearing through the other, and Lance heard Mark huff out a swear from his spot nearby.

"Yeah, you're lucky he didn't kill you earlier," Lance murmured and then refused to meet Mark's eyes, even though he could feel them on his face for a few moments.

There were clips of the lions flying and running around the castle back when they were on Arus, including one embarrassing lion pyramid — _oh how their lions had laughed at them for that maneuver_ — with Coran's narration in the background about the five of them learning how to work together. And then finally, there was clip after clip after clip of the lions coming together to form Voltron, followed by several videos of Voltron in action.

Allura watched the shocked expressions of the paladins' family members as they watched and learned _exactly_ what it meant to form Voltron. The shock gave way to worry, but then awe and a few expressions of pride appeared as Voltron dismantled Galra battle ships and destructive Galra-sent robots.

Allura had included some clips from Beta Traz, which had Lance's entire family sending him amazed looks after watching him not only fight some giant alien creature, but then make _the shot_ that saved the little alien guy they were supposed to be rescuing. And on top of that stolen footage, there was also video of some of their hand to hand combat battles inside several Galra bases, as Pidge had learned how to easily hack their security feeds and pull what she wanted.

The next video clip was centered on Keith and Shiro, fighting together to hold back a group of Galra sentries as Pidge worked at a console behind them. Hunk and Lance weren't on-screen, but Lance remembered them both being perched nearby, providing cover when they could. The team had gotten pretty good at infiltrating Galra bases undetected to pull information from their consoles, but this one had been more heavily guarded than most. Keith and Shiro's grunts could be heard as metal struck metal in their efforts.

Lance tensed as he watched the mission. Even though this event was in the past and they had clearly all made it out of there safely, it was hard to watch his friends in danger. He glanced around the room and found that everyone had their eyes glued to the screen, so even though this was difficult to watch, this video idea of Allura's seemed to be doing its job. Surely, his family could no longer think he'd been off playing in space after seeing all this.

Hunk's on-screen voice brought his attention back to the video clip.

" _Shiro, on your six!" Hunk called out and they all watched as Shiro spun and took down the sentry that had tried to sneak up on him._

" _Keith, back!" Lance yelled next and Keith automatically jumped backwards, allowing Lance a clean shot at the three sentries coming towards him._

" _Pidge?" Shiro called out._

" _I got it!" Pidge called out and was soon coming around the console to join them._

 _Keith turned towards her then, ready to clear a path so she'd have clear access to join them._

" _Keith!" Lance yelled out again as a sentry took advantage of his distraction and rammed its way into Keith's side. The force knocked Keith's bayard out of his hand and it landed several feet away._

 _With the sentry on top of him, Keith took advantage of the robotics lesson Hunk had supplied them with, and quickly pulled at two small wires in the neck area before rolling the newly-disabled robot off of him. Then he ducked under another in order to race towards his weapon. All sentries who tried to attack him as he ran were quickly shot down from an unseen rifle._

Rosie glanced over at Lance then. "Is that you doing that?" she whispered.

"Sharpshooter," Keith whispered back while Lance nodded.

Meanwhile, Hunk's mother murmured, "You all need a way to automatically retract your weapons."

And even though she was clutching Pidge's hand within both of her own as she watched, Mrs. Holt nodded as well. "The bayard can appear from your suit and transform into a weapon, but you have no way to call it back to you when it's knocked across a room?"

Pidge met Hunk's eyes and they grinned at each other, perfectly clear on what their first project would be when they returned.

The big battle against Zarkon was included as well, and although there wasn't footage of the paladins inside their lions, their family members could clearly hear their voices as they encouraged each other through the fight.

With Zarkon defeated, the next clips switched away from battles and instead focused on some more personal images of the paladins themselves. Included was their initial food fight, Hunk baking in the kitchen with Pidge seated on the counter making faces at his efforts, Lance walking around in his blue bathrobe and lion slippers, Keith and Lance grinning at each other from their seats in the dining hall, and all seven of them settled in to watch a movie together.

And as this video was meant to bridge a relationship between Voltron and Earth, and possibly future planets as well, the final clips included some images taken from diplomatic meetings that had secured previous alliances between different planets.

When it was over, Mora wiped the proud tears from her eyes as she replayed for herself the image of her boy, looking handsome in his paladin armor, floating through space but still able to make a shot that rescued a prisoner. She looked to Ray and saw a similar level of pride on his own face.

"He's quite a shot," Ray murmured back to her. "And quite a pilot. Armed with a strategic mind."

Mora squeezed his fingers. She couldn't help the tears that rolled down her cheeks, but still managed to whisper back, "He's where he should be, then."

Ray swallowed over a lump in his throat that he was trying to ignore. He knew it wasn't really their decision to make, but he still felt like they were jointly deciding to essentially _let go_ of their son so that he could follow his true life calling.

It hurt, though, Mora admitted to herself, to think that they had raised him and loved him within the safely of their family, only to be forced to give him up, even if it was for the greater good of the universe.

"Princess Allura," Mora said, and the din of the other voices chatting in the room died down. "Since Lance interrupted you before you could discuss the qualities of the blue paladin," — she paused to shoot Lance a pseudo-glare — "would you mind sharing them with us now?"

"Of course," Allura said with a beaming smile for Lance's mother. "The paladin of the Blue Lion has always been responsible for bringing the team together. In Lance's case, this was literally true, as he connected himself, Pidge, and Hunk with Shiro and Keith back on Earth. But Blue's paladin also brings the team together on a daily basis, and I imagine coming from such a large family has aided Lance in his ability to take six additional, extremely different personalities and easily bring us together to live and work not only as a team, but — and I think I can speak freely for everyone — as a family. And we have Lance to thank for laying that foundation down for us.

"Plus, as a both a leg of Voltron or as a young man sitting at our dinner table, Lance has lifted us all easily on multiple occasions, which has helped us grow as individuals, but always helps with team morale as well.

"And finally, Blue and her paladin have their beliefs firmly rooted in the idea that good will prevail, which also provides the stability Voltron requires in a leg."

Lance had ducked his eyes as soon as Allura had begun speaking. He knew why he'd interrupted Allura on that first day, and it wasn't because he wanted to boast about himself. Truthfully, he couldn't believe that he was suddenly being asked to defend the universe with some of the most talented people the universe had to offer. And he'd been sure if Allura described what Blue's paladin should be like, that the others would've immediately deemed him unworthy of such a description. He was sure he'd be kicked out before he even got a chance to try.

But now, after listening to her not only describe Blue's paladin, but him directly, he lifted his eyes and found Allura still smiling at him. Found Keith smiling at him. Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran all smiling at him. Plus, there were the _good kind of tears_ in the eyes of many of his family members.

The thought that he'd been a seventh wheel had been inadvertently squashed by Keith some time ago. Still, additional confirmation that it wasn't the case was nice.

Apparently he wasn't a seventh wheel. Apparently he was the bus driver.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 author notes:**

Yes, I had them on Earth less than 24 hours before they were all back in the castle!

Lex and Tim are still living on the castle ship, and I tried to include them somewhere in this story, but there just wasn't space as I worked through this. Sorry kids!

Etched into the seat of lance's bench:

 _I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky_

\- Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** : I don't think I can express how much your supportive comments have meant to me as I've posted this story. There were numerous comments/requests for a "Lance brings Keith home" story after I wrote MMYH, and I'll admit I immediately brushed off the idea. It just seemed so monumental. And I already knew that I just couldn't write such a thing and have it be ALL the fluff.

On top of that was the matter of what Lance's family would even look like (so many OCs!)

But my adamant refusal turned into "Well maybe I could try" — which turned into scribbling down notes for a couple weeks — which turned into actually typing out scenes — which turned into writing for a full month before I almost scrapped the whole thing.

Honestly, if you liked this story, maybe go visit thisgirlhastales (mytay) and suitboxers on Tumblr and say thanks. Because right when I was ready to turn my back on this, they both read part one and offered such monumental encouragement that I was suddenly re-motivated and completely excited to keep going with it.

Also, thank you mytay for being an amazing writing buddy and my unofficial beta (I only say unofficial because you sort of fell into the role!)

Have I mentioned this whole thing was supposed to be a one-shot? And that the word count just kind of got away from me? Thanks again for sticking with this! I hope you enjoy this final chapter, which has some continuity in the timeline from the last chapter before we skip into various events that occur during the month Lance and Keith have on Earth. (Warning for this section: the fluff people were likely expecting when they first requested this story).

Also, the mature rating is basically for some sexual content in this chapter.

* * *

Gabby cornered him away from the others soon after the alien space princess' video ended with hard blue eyes that bored into his own. His first response was to defensively frown at her.

"You understand that we're standing inside a spaceship that is going to fly away in a few weeks _with our little brother in it_ , right?"

Gabby's voice was hoarse. She'd been crying again. Mark hated all of this. He crossed his arms and didn't respond.

"You need to get your shit together, Markos. Because Lance _will be_ disappearing into space again, and we're not going to give him any reason not to fly back home the next time he gets a chance."

"It's not fair," he finally murmured back, doing his best to keep his voice down while the others were still preoccupied on the other side of the room. "And not just because of what we went through, but now, seeing all that" — he waved his hand towards the wall where the screen had been located before — "makes it clear that Lance has been in serious danger, Gabby —"

" _I know_ ," she said, as empathetically as she could manage. Because suddenly what they went through was put in perspective next to the _war_ that Lance had been fighting his way through. Both experiences were important, both had lasting emotional ramifications; Gabby had avoided thinking too hard on whether Lance had been suffering while missing, and now … Now she didn't know how to _stop_ thinking about it. She rested a hand on one of Mark's crossed forearms. "And, because you're his big brother who doesn't want him in danger, you have a right to be angry on his behalf. But you have to stop being angry _at him_."

She paused for a moment and glanced to where Lance stood with their parents. She smiled at the pride she could see in their papá and mamá's eyes as they spoke with Lance before she turned back to Mark, who was also watching the three of them.

"Markos, I want you to think about how you want to spend these few weeks we have during Lance's visit. You've missed him. And I don't want you to be filled with regret when he leaves, especially since we probably won't know when we'll see him again. Or even if —"

" _Don't say it, Gabby_." Mark cut her off sharply, and thankfully she stopped, having made her point. He met her eyes again, though, and gave her a nod. "I don't want to have any regrets either," he murmured softly.

"Good, because I think Rosie especially is watching your reactions closely. She's going to follow your lead."

"Got it," Mark said on an exhale.

" _And_ do not attack Keith again," she grit out with a glare while folding her own arms across her chest. "None of this is Keith's fault. He was obviously dragged into this just like the rest of them. Plus, Lance clearly _adores_ him. Did you see them together in that video? Or the way Lance looks at him in person? Or the way Lance has been leaning on him for support? Or —"

"Okay, okay."

"You're only going to drive a wedge between you and Lance if you keep it up."

"I got it," Mark said as his eyes searched out Keith in the crowded room as well. He was sitting on the one of the couches next to Takashi Shirogane — _he still couldn't believe that guy was actually alive_ — and, _of course_ , Laney had found her way back into Keith's lap. But Keith had a small smile on his face as he ducked and maneuvered his fluffy ears away from the little girl's grabby fingers while Takashi Shirogane openly laughed at the pair.

"The fact that Lance is dating an alien is the least surprising part of this whole mess," he murmured.

" _Do not_ say that to him," Gabby scolded, although she couldn't help the way her lips pulled up into a grin before she walked away from him.

* * *

"Do you think that helped?" Shiro asked, keeping his voice low so the family members scattered around the room couldn't hear him.

Keith had Lance in his peripheral, but he turned his head further so he could focus on his boyfriend's expression. Overall, Lance looked relieved as he stood speaking to his parents and Coran.

"Yes." Keith's attention was brought back to Laney as she took advantage of his turned head and grabbed an ear. "A little out of the blue, though. Did you know Allura had all that footage?"

Shiro bit back a smile. "I don't think _Allura_ knew she had all that footage until recently. She does think it'll help with new Voltron Alliance meetings."

"Anything that cuts down on all the talking works for me."

"That's the spirit," Shiro said with a grin. He leaned towards Keith to try to catch Laney's attention but she only had eyes for Keith; she stood unsteadily up on his legs and tried to hop a few times as she giggled. "She really likes you, huh?"

"She likes the ears," Keith muttered, and he sent a mock glare in Laney's direction. She was hopping to better her chances at reaching them and he was once again forced to keep her from toppling to the ground. She responded to his glare with a giggle before pursing her lips together so she could blow a raspberry at him. He couldn't help but laugh before he handed her off to Shiro. "Here, take her. I don't think Mark would appreciate it if I walked off with her."

"Whoa, what?" Shiro's eyes widened in slight panic as he suddenly found himself holding a small toddler. A squirmy toddler who was doing her best to twist herself around in her efforts to reach out to Keith.

"I don't want to interrupt Lance, but tell him I'll be right back if he asks."

"Wait, Keith —" Shiro adjusted his arms again in his efforts to hold Laney as Keith ignored him and headed towards the exit.

Keith glanced back at Shiro with a small grin when he reached the door, especially when he noticed his friend begin to blush as Allura approached him and leaned down to coo at Laney.

Then he ducked out of the room and headed for Red's hangar. He took the elevator, since it was closest, and let half his mouth quirk up in a grin when he felt Red's senses brush over him as she checked him over.

"I've only been gone a quintent," he said in response to her worry.

 _As if you've never gotten into trouble in less time than that._

Well, he had had to give her that, he thought. Then a deep blue color flashed in his mind as he took a seat on the ground in front of her.

"Lance is okay. Well, he's better now at least," he responded. "It was good of Blue to check on him." He lifted an eyebrow in her direction. "They think they're in the running for the most bonded pair, now, though."

 _Ridiculous_ , Red huffed out with an incredulous laugh.

Keith laughed too. "I'll let him think it for now."

Then there was a startled questioning emotion from Red that had Keith whipping his head around. He jumped to his feet when he found Mark standing in the hangar's entrance.

Mark lifted both of his hands — palms facing Keith — when he saw Keith's wary expression. He slowly lowered his hands when Keith didn't make a move from where he stood staring at him.

"I didn't come to fight," Mark offered. "And not just cause you could slice and dice me, or, I don't know, murder me with your bare hands."

Keith relaxed slightly, which thankfully dulled the growl he could hear from Red.

"Thanks for not doing that before, by the way." He paused and watched Keith. Keith's expression was hard to read and Mark couldn't blame the guy for keeping his expression guarded. His next set of words came out in a rush. "And, I'm sorry for attacking you. And also for being a jerk before that, too. I was angry and I took it out on you and I shouldn't have."

Keith watched Mark fidget with his hands for a moment, a move that was strikingly familiar since he'd seen Lance repeatedly do the exact same thing.

"I get it."

Mark looked surprised for a moment, before asking, "You do?"

Keith let his shoulders relax. "I got kicked out of the Garrison because I punched my commanding officer in the face when he said something I didn't like."

"Oh," Mark said — and Keith watched as a genuine smile lit up Mark's face. He kind of wished Lance was here to see it.

"Lance said you were his best friend." Keith shifted where he stood and pushed himself to say the next few words, pushing himself to do what Lance would likely do in this situation. "So, it'd be nice if you and I could —"

"Yeah," Mark said, cutting him off because he agreed, but also to put Keith out of his misery. He could see that despite Keith's discomfort, he was currently making nice _for Lance._ He had to give the guy major points for that. "I'll try harder. And I am sorry about —"

"What are doing in here, Mark?"

Lance's words cut through the air, and Keith watched Lance's long legs make quick strides across the room in order to stand next to him while he glared at his brother. Keith quietly switched to Altean again.

"He was apologizing, Lance. And now I'm going to leave you two in here. I'll meet back up with you in the common room."

The tension in Lance's shoulder eased. He nodded slowly to Keith, and watched his boyfriend give Red and then Mark a little wave before he walked out.

"What language is that?" Mark asked.

Lance sighed and eyed his brother. It was strange to suddenly be alone with him after all this time. Almost as strange as seeing his family walk through the halls of this castle.

"Altean," he finally said. "It's Princess Allura and Coran's native language. We all began learning it a while back, mainly because everything in this ship is in Altean, and it's easier than asking Coran to constantly translate maps or shampoo labels. Plus, it's come in handy to have in the middle of meetings when we don't want others to know what we're saying."

"So I've seen."

Lance crossed his arms then and lowered his eyes to the floor. There were a few things he wanted to say to Mark, but considering he'd actually taken the time to find Keith and apologize, he pushed some of those thoughts back for the moment. He was willing to wait and see if Mark had anything to say to him first.

Mark considered this taller, sturdier Lance. His brother was an experienced soldier now, and he kind of hated it. But he stopped thinking about how much their family had gone through over the last two years, and just looked at Lance — he could still see his goofy little brother there. Lance still appeared quick to smile. And Mark was going to have to force himself to be okay with this for as long as Lance was okay with it. As long as Lance remained himself through it.

"I'm sorry I was being a dick." Thankfully that got Lance's eyes back up to his face.

"You apologized to Keith?"

"Yeah." Mark rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. "And he seems like a decent guy."

"But?" Lance said with narrowed eyes as he watched Mark fidget.

"Look, don't get pissed, but - are you sure about him?"

There was a low rumble from behind them and Mark took a few steps away from the large red lion.

Lance leaned over and rubbed his hand over one of Red's paws. "Don't worry," he whispered to her before turning back to Mark. "If you think he's a _decent guy_ , then why are you asking?"

Mark stared up at the lion for a moment and then chose his words carefully. "Look, Keith seems, uh" — another glance up towards Red — "strong and handsome and capable, or whatever." He paused but there were no further noises from the red lion. "But, I just wonder if you'd be so willing to stay up here if you weren't dating a coworker?"

There was a short-lived wave of relief that washed over him as he realized Mark really didn't have an issue with Keith as a person. He gave Red's paw another few pats and then walked over to stand next to his brother.

"Yes, Markos. I'd still choose doing my part for the universe, even if I didn't have Keith. He's not the only reason I'm up here. My lion chose me even before Keith and I managed to speak civilly to each other. I'm supposed to be up here. I'm an important member of this team."

Mark nodded in resignation, sure that that was what Lance was going to say anyway, especially after seeing that video. Still, it was hard to just let go of his little brother.

"You're an important member of our family too, though."

"I know," Lance said with a sigh. "And I am sorry that I disappeared the way I did. But —"

"I get it, Lance," Mark cut him off. "I don't like it, I'd prefer you safe at home, but I still get it. And I'm proud of you."

"Yeah?" Lance asked with a tentative smile.

"Of course." Mark returned the smile with one of his own. "How long are you home for a visit?"

"Just for October," Lance said as he began to lead Mark out of Red's hangar. "Thanks for apologizing to Keith, by the way. And I'm glad you like him, cause I'm keeping him. Out of everyone in the universe, I'd still choose him."

"You know, the fact that your boyfriend is an alien is the least surprising part of this whole thing."

"Rude," Lance said with a punch to Mark's arm. "We were having a bonding moment!"

Mark huffed out a sharp breath at the hit. "When did you learn how to punch?"

Lance laughed as they walked down the hall.

* * *

It was late when they returned. But the first order of business back on the ground in Florida was food. Real Earth Food.

As almost every one of them had been in pajamas for the trip to the castle; they changed as fast as humanly possible before piling into a couple cars.

Unfortunately, that's when everything stalled once again.

Ray wanted to go to their family's favorite restaurant. Lance wasn't the only one who had missed it, considering he'd been gone for a year himself. But it was Lance who somewhat meekly suggested that they go somewhere else. Maybe someplace a few towns over, even.

Theo leaned forward and peered at Lance from where he sat in the backseat on the other side of Keith. "Is it his ears?"

Which got Lance's quick attention to Keith, _because_ _holy shit he forgot about Keith's ears_. But he shook his head when his papá glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

"No, it's just that everyone knows our family there. But everyone also thought I was dead, right? And I don't want to draw any attention. Not yet, anyway. I just got here." He offered a shrug. He wanted alone time with his family without anyone else interfering, no matter how well meaning that attention may be.

"Okay, Lance and Keith out of the car." Mora opened her own door and climbed out as she spoke. Lance followed her, and may have had to grab Keith's arm in order to pull his poor, hungry boyfriend out. She also waved to the others waiting in the second car to get out. "Ray, you and Theo go pick up some food. Should we have pizza tonight or burgers?"

Lance may have whimpered at the suggestions. Keith worried he was going to begin openly salivating like a cartoon character.

Mora eyed both of them before she leaned down to speak to Ray through the car window. "Just pick up a little of everything. And fast."

They didn't even make it to the table to eat when the food was brought in, and the rest of the McClains stood back and watched Keith and Lance devour slices of pizza, entire hamburgers, chicken wings, and french fries from where they stood sound the island.

"They're going to be sick," Gabby murmured.

"Worth it," Lance said around a mouthful of pizza.

Keith nodded happily and tapped a chicken wing against Lance's current slice of pizza in a happy cheers.

Thankfully they didn't get sick, but Keith did have his doubts about the two of them and their overly full, protruding bellies fitting in the tiny twin that night.

Lance just laughed and pulled him into the bed anyway. And that night he was able to fall right to sleep.

* * *

The sound of pots and pans being rustled around out in the kitchen woke Keith and Lance the next morning.

Lance woke up smiling and peppered kisses over Keith's face until he was smiling too. Then he tossed Keith some clothes and sent him to the bathroom while he headed to the kitchen. When Keith was showered and clothed, he headed to the kitchen as well. He hissed at the small corgi as he passed him in the hallway, and while Gus-Gus growled, he thankfully stayed away from his ankles this time.

The sight that greeted Keith — all of the McClains working together to cook a meal — had him pausing at the kitchen entrance. There was soft music playing in the background, and Keith watched as the _hip shimmy_ he associated with Lance anytime Lance had to stand still to complete a task — like brushing his teeth or applying that ridiculous face mask — appeared now before him in the form of _every_ McClain as they moved around the kitchen. They shimmied as they cooked eggs. As they tossed pancakes. As they cut up fruit. As they poured mugs of coffee.

Keith took the dishes Theo offered him and helped arrange them around the table as he quietly watched the way Lance fit so seamlessly in this carefully choreographed routine. And when Lance looked up from the cantaloupe he was slicing, Keith met his eyes with a smile, and was rewarded with one of Lance's dazzling grins in return.

And a few minutes later, when they were all seated at the table, Keith smiled again. Not just because the food looked and smelled delicious, but because this was exactly what Lance had wanted all along — everyone relaxed and sitting around the table so that he could stare at their faces.

Keith had ended up in a seat next to Laney's booster seat, giving her easy access to his bowl of fruit. And he pretended not to notice as she began to steal his strawberries, especially when Mora directed a question his way.

"So, Keith —" Mora started.

Keith froze at that, quickly wondering if they were finally going to start asking him about his alien ears or why he wasn't visiting his own family instead of crashing Lance's homecoming.

"Why don't you tell us what it is you like so much about our Lancito?"

Keith almost laughed in relief. But he still squirmed in his seat for a moment, because all McClain eyes were suddenly on him. He glanced over at Lance beside him and decided it was worth it for the flush he could see crawling its way up Lance's neck.

"Lance is, um," he glanced over at Lance again and smiled as he thought about all the reasons he loved this boy. "He's thoughtful, and bright, and warm, and cheerful and brave." The words easily rolled off his tongue, especially as that red flush flew up Lance's face until it reached the tips of his ears. "Even in the middle of a battle, he's still _himself_ , and he reminds us of all the good, which is the main reason we fight."

"Ay por dios, Lance!" Theo said with a teasing grin. "Crayola needs to come to our house right this second and see the color of your face to make a new red crayon."

"They could call it the boyfriend blush!" Rosie added as she broke out into giggles.

Lance couldn't even look up at the rest of them as he poked at his eggs and tried to just take a deep inhale through his nose and exhale through his mouth. And while the others chuckled around the table, Mora moved fond eyes between Lance and Keith.

Keith smiled softly at Lance as well, especially because he'd honestly never seen him this red before. He decided to take advantage of Lance's current inability to speak.

"And he's really suited for diplomacy. He has a way with people. We were at this emperor's place for dinner once where we were trying to get this planet on board with the Voltron Alliance. And I made some comment about a painting that was on the wall."

"Of all the paintings you could've commented on," Lance muttered beside him. He'd taken to fanning his red face with his napkin.

"What was it?" Gabby asked, her mouth already twisting into a smirk as she watched Keith's own face begin to pinken at the memory.

"Keith complimented the picture and asked if it was a creature native to their planet," Lance said, and while he was trying not to laugh, he was beginning to fail miserably.

Rosie's eyes were pinned on her big brother as a smile spread across her face. Lance's laugh had always been infectious, and the way Keith was now turning red while beginning to hunch in his seat had her wanting more stories from these two.

"Oh don't tell me," Gabby said, leaning forward in her seat. "It was really like — a picture of the guy's daughter?"

Keith's only response to was to offer a little shrug.

Gabby's hand flew to her mouth in amused shock while Rosie tried to hide her giggle behind her own hand. Theo, however, howled openly and even smacked his hand against the table. Even Mark tried to hide a smile. Mora and Ray exchanged quick grins but did their best not to appear amused for Keith's sake.

Keith cleared his throat and sat up in his seat again. "But, uh, Lance jumped in then and complimented the food, the hat the emperor was wearing, the weather on their planet. He seriously managed to switch the subject four times in five minutes before he redirected the conversation back to the alliance."

"Did the planet join the alliance?" Ray asked.

Keith nodded, eyes glancing at Lance's father before they returned to roam affectionately over Lance's face.

"They did. Lance saved me _and_ the purpose of the dinner."

Lance smiled warmly at Keith then, the red of his face fading only slightly. He leaned over and kissed his cheek before he turned back to his food. Mora smiled too, proud of Lance's good manners, but also because she was growing fonder of Keith as well, especially after Keith had willingly shared something that embarrassed him because the ending made Lance look good to his family.

"Plus, he's pretty cute," Keith added, feeling entirely comfortable at this table of McClains.

The red came back to Lance's face with a vengeance.

"He wasn't always so cute," Gabby said with a wicked grin.

"Oh yes he was, Gabriella," Mora reprimanded while she shot Lance a winning smile.

Gabby laughed and shook her head. "No, no way, mamá. Remember when he was like, what fourteen?"

Now Mark was smiling too.

"Like you're one to talk!" Lance shot across the table at her.

"His legs were suddenly so long —"

"It was like he forgot how to walk," Mark muttered.

"Yes!" Gabby was practically wheezing. "He tripped over his own dumb legs all the time! He was constantly falling."

Keith tried to hide his smile, mainly because he could easily picture it.

"He was like an adorable baby giraffe," Mora managed to say with a dreamy look on her face.

"Mamá!" Lance exclaimed. _Betrayed_ by his own mother.

"Oh, we should get his middle school pictures out to show Keith!" Rosie added.

"No! Absolutely not, I hate those!"

"That's why she's grabbing them," Theo said plainly as they all watched Rosie jump up from the table.

Keith watched Lance grin despite his family's teasing, not exactly the picture of mortification that Keith would expect over embarrassing pictures — and honestly, how awful could pictures of thirteen year old Lance be anyway? Keith looped his fingers into Lance's, and Lance's smile only widened when those blue eyes settled on Keith's face. Once again, he was thankful that Lance was finally getting some of the reunion moments he'd been hoping for.

"Well, now that we've put Keith on the spot, Lance, why don't you tell us what it is you like about Keith?" Mora asked.

Keith could feel his neck and face heating up before Lance even opened his mouth. Lance complimented him _all the time_ , and he tried to prepare himself to hear Lance rave about his piloting skills, or his ears, or — _Heaven forbid_ — his rear end in front of his family.

But Lance's blue eyes were nothing but serious as they locked onto Keith's face while he squeezed his fingers again. "Keith was given kind of a shitty hand," he said in a soft voice, "but he's always pushed to do his absolute best at every single thing he's ever done. He makes me want to do my best too."

A soft silence fell over the table as the other McClains glanced at each other with small smiles. Keith didn't notice, however, as he swallowed over a lump in his throat and thought about kissing Lance in front of everyone at the table.

"Plus, he has a really cute ass."

"Lance!" Keith scolded, whipping his hand away.

Thankfully, the rest of the table's occupants broke out into laughter, which only grew as Rosie suddenly reappeared behind Keith's seat and practically plopped a photo album onto his plate.

"Found them!" she said triumphantly as she pointed immediately to middle school Lance in a couple of the photos.

"You are no longer my favorite little sister!" Lance yelled as he immediately tried to snatch the book. But Keith avoided his grabby hands and managed to pull the book into his stomach as he twisted to the side, allowing him to still get a good look.

"Oh wow," Keith murmured. Admittedly, thirteen year old Lance was still adorable. Same bright blue eyes. Same big, dazzling smile. But there was no way Keith wasn't going to give him shit for something after that ass comment. "Exactly how much gel is in your hair?"

"The whole bottle," Mark murmured around another bite of his food.

"That was _in_ at the time!" Lance pouted as he gave up trying to get the book away from Keith's iron grip. He slumped back into his own chair and poked his fork at his pancakes.

"You looked very handsome, Lancito," Mora said.

"And not at all like a tremendo douche," Theo snickered.

"Theo!" Ray said, doing his best to frown and not smile.

"Thank you, mamá," Lance said pointedly while he glared at his little brother.

"Hey, stop eating all of Tío Keith's strawberries," Mark chided as he watched Laney snatch another from Keith's bowl.

Keith smiled and continued to flip through the photo album.

* * *

Keith's feet actually hurt. He spent how many hours on the training deck fighting the gladiator without foot pain? And yet, one day out shopping with Lance's mother and sisters, and he was ready to chop his own feet off to relieve the pain.

His only consolation was that Lance looked just as tired as he did. And when he met Lance at the back of his mother's car to help carry in bags from their day out, he was greeted with a kiss on his nose before Lance reached up to pull off the beanie Keith had worn out all day.

Lance didn't _dislike_ the beanie, necessarily. Keith looked damn cute in a hat, after all. But, as his mamá had pointed out, they weren't convinced that Keith even knew how often he moved his ears, which, Lance would admit, was often. But that meant that Keith was very likely going to unconsciously move them when they were out in public. And they couldn't have that, at least not before the big meeting with the Garrison officials in a few short weeks.

So Lance had dug out some of his old hats for Keith to wear, and he'd picked up some materials today so he could knit Keith his own hats. And thankfully, Keith hadn't appeared bothered by the suggestion and had worn the hat without issue all day, even though he admitted the hat tickled his ears in a way that the paladin helmets did not. But they were home now, so Lance stuffed the beanie into his back pocket before they began to lug their bags inside the house.

They were letting each family member choose different activities to do with them, and his mother had insisted on taking them shopping for clothes to take back with them, on top of the sweaters she was actively knitting them — _Because that castle was cold, Lancito!_

Lance had had fun shopping for new things, and he'd had fun watching his mamá hold shirts up to Keith's chest before sending his boyfriend into a dressing room with an armful of options. Plus, he was grateful for the chance to not only stock up on clothes, but also movies, games, and snacks as well.

Oh, and his mamá had snuck in dentist appointments for both of them in the middle of the morning. Keith's face when Mora had _bip bip bip'd_ his protests as she pushed him into a dental chair for a cleaning as well had been priceless.

When they entered the house that evening, Lance nodded a hello over to his brothers where they sat sprawled on the couches, as if they were also exhausted even though they'd been allowed to stay home all day, before he led Keith back to their temporary room.

But Lance froze in the doorway when he reached his childhood bedroom. The posters were the same. And the desks and dressers were still there. But the two twin beds were gone, replaced by a newly assembled queen-sized bed in the center of the back wall.

"Are we being moved to a different room?" Keith whispered up to Lance when he finally got a peek around his boyfriend's shoulders.

"No," Mora chided as she came up behind the two and gave Lance a little shove to get him into the room. "Your papá and brothers set this up for you today. It's ridiculous for you two to share a twin-sized bed."

Lance remained quiet as he continued to stare in shock at the change. Plus, he in no way wanted to openly admit to his mamá that he had definitely coaxed Keith into sleeping in one twin with him.

"And," Mora added softly, "I'm hoping that if you know this room is available for you, and you're comfortable in it, that you'll both come back to visit as often as you can."

Lance dropped the bags he was holding, breathing out a soft noise as he turned to pull his mother into a hug.

"We'd come back and visit as often as we could anyway," he murmured. "But thank you, mamá."

Mora smiled and tapped her cheek with one finger, to which Lance quickly responded and dropped a kiss there. Then she turned to Keith and tapped the other cheek. Keith instantly turned a soft pink color in response, warmed by the small gesture of inclusion, before he leaned forward and kissed Mora's cheek as well.

* * *

Keith grinned from his seat at the table as he watched Lance do his best to sit still while Gabby continued to snip away at his hair. She'd sat him on one of the island's stools in the center of the kitchen, wrapped a towel around his neck, and gotten to work almost fifteen minutes ago.

"So no alien barbers out there?"

"That he'd let near his hair?" Keith asked dryly.

Gabby chuckled in response, and Keith watched as she continued to run her fingers through Lance's hair while eyeing the ends as if to make sure it was all even. He focused on Gabby in order to do his best to appear to be ignoring the fact that Lance had not only turned his blue-eyed attention in Keith's direction, but was slowly raking those blue eyes over his face and down the line of his body where he sat in the chair.

"I like the sight of you in our kitchen," Lance finally said.

Keith flushed, but still rolled his eyes and replied, "You've said that about every room in this house."

"Because so far I've enjoyed the sight of you in every room in this house," Lance said simply with a small shrug.

Gabby moved to stand in front of Lance as she did a final sweep of the hair that fell over his eyes and shot her brother a small smile when he managed to pry his eyes off Keith to glance up at her.

"My boyfriend has cat ears," Lance said to her while grinning hugely.

Gabby chuckled again. She enjoyed these moments when she got to hang out with just Lance and Keith. They both seemed to relax just a tad bit more around her, giving her a chance to see what they were probably like alone. So far, she'd determined that they were likely flirty, handsy, competitive, teasing, and sweet.

"I'm happy for you, Lance," she replied, "and not just about the cat ears, you loser. Now get up. It's Keith's turn."

"What?" Keith sputtered while noting that Lance looked just as shocked.

"Up," Gabby repeated as she pulled the towel from around Lance's neck and pushed on his shoulders. "Keith, over here." She pointed to the stool.

"I don't know if Keith wants a haircut —"

"I think I'm okay without —"

"Bip bip bip bip." Gabby swung her fingers across her throat and cut them both off.

"Just a trim, Keith. Come on. Your hair will thank you."

Keith's eyes went back to Lance who merely shrugged at him. So he slowly got up and moved across the kitchen. He paused in front of Lance, though, and took a turn running his own fingers through Lance's shortened hair, which earned him a happy hum from his boyfriend.

"It looks nice," Keith said as he took Lance's place on the stool. Gabby wrapped the towel around his shoulders and then began to run her fingers through his hair in assessment.

"Wow, soft," she murmured.

Lance planted himself in front of Keith and beamed back at Gabby with a nod. "Right?"

Gabby began to comb through Keith's hair as Laney toddled into the room. Her face lit up upon seeing Keith and her arms shot up in a request to be picked up.

"Uh," Keith replied, eyeing the little girl but unsure if it would be okay during a haircut.

"You want Tío Lance to pick you up?"

Laney gave Lance a shy smile, but then grabbed Keith's knees and began to climb.

"It's fine," Gabby said, answering Keith's unspoken question. "I can work around her."

Keith lifted her into his lap and shot his own small smile to Lance as Laney murmured " _Kitty,_ " and settled herself against Keith's chest, sticking a thumb in her mouth. Her eyes were closed a few seconds later.

"I can't blame her," Lance said, conceding much quicker than Gabby or Keith were expecting to Laney's obvious adoration of Keith over himself. "I told you everyone was going to love my space cat boyfriend."

He pulled his camera out, ignored Keith's protests, bribed Keith with a kiss for a smile, and took a picture of the three of them, including Laney fast asleep and Gabby resting her head on the top of Keith's head with her own large smile.

Then Lance began chewing on his bottom lip as Gabby pulled out the scissors again. "Just don't go crazy, Gabs," he said, eyeing the scissors with an uneasy expression.

Keith watched in amusement as Lance's expression grew more and more worried as Gabby began actually using the scissors.

"Like, don't waste your time trying to style all _this_ ," Lance waved both hands in the general vicinity of Keith's head, "'cause you could be here all day."

Keith huffed out an aggravated noise but otherwise kept quiet. Mainly because, although Lance was trying to sound slightly insulting, there was definitely a red tinge creeping its way up the brown skin of Lance's neck.

"Just, you know, get rid of the dead ends, but leave the rest?"

"That's generally how a trim works, Lance," Gabby said, keeping her eyes on Keith's hair as she spoke.

"Plus, he likes to pull it up in a ponytail, so keep that in mind."

Gabby tried to hold back the McClain family smirk, but was unable to as Lance continued to express his fondness for his boyfriend's hair in the most roundabout way ever. With a sigh, and without saying a word, she continued to comb Keith's hair, pulling it up towards the ceiling before snipping away as little as she could get away with. But she froze only seconds later when Lance jerked forward and let out his own " _bip bip bip bip_ " – a sound she hadn't realized how much she'd missed hearing from him until right now as it fell from his mouth.

"Lance, what?" she managed to ask.

"The ears!"

"I didn't touch them!"

"You almost did! They're sensitive, Gabby!"

"Lance, she wasn't anywhere near them," Keith interjected before twisting as best he could with Laney's weight against his chest in order to look at Gabby. "And it's fine if the comb touches them. They're not _that_ sensitive." He twisted back to shoot a look at Lance.

Reluctantly, Lance moved to sit in the seat Keith had vacated at the table. He continued to focus intently on Gabby's hands with narrowed eyes and was back on his feet a few minutes later when Gabby had been on a roll with the scissors.

However, this time his tirade about her cutting the back too short and almost snipping an ear with scissors didn't last too long when Gabby kicked him out of the kitchen entirely.

Gabby hummed and went back to work when he was gone. "Well, I guess if you didn't have confirmation that he likes your hair before, you've got it now," she said to Keith.

"Yeah, I figured it out a while back," Keith said with his own small grin. "And sometimes, if he's on a long rant, I just pull my hair up with a hair tie and he gets all flustered and forgets what he's saying."

Gabby snorted, but was also filled with a sense of warmth since it sounded like such a _Lance_ reaction. She enjoyed these moments with just Keith, too. Because when he shared these kinds of stories, not related to battle or training, but just small stories about Lance's day-to-day life while he had been missing from home, she was pleased to learn that even if he hadn't been with them, he'd been able to just be himself. And to find moments of happiness.

While _it_ _wasn't on Earth_ , it sounded to her like Lance really had found his place in the world. And as she moved herself around to stand in front of Keith in order to work on his bangs, she sent him a smile as well. Because she was glad that fate had decided that Lance's and Keith's places in the world were next to each other.

Keith smiled back at her, before tentatively opening his mouth and asking Gabby if she thought he had a mullet.

"No way," she responded with a shake of her head. "Mullets are way shorter on top. You don't get long bangs like this with a mul – wait, has Lance been calling this a mullet?"

Keith hesitated and then nodded.

Gabby giggled and shook her head again. "Probably trying to distract himself from how much he likes it."

* * *

The next time Lance took Keith to his beach, he brought all of his siblings plus Laney, and they were fully prepared to spend the day out there with bathing suits, towels, snacks, and sunblock.

Keith had to admit, the beach in the middle of the day was a different creature than the beach he'd seen previously under the sunrise. He didn't remember the sand being this white or the water so green last time they were out here.

Lance unceremoniously dumped their stuff in the sand and then pulled Keith right into the water with him. Theo and Rosie ran right in after them while Gabby stayed in the sand with Mark and Laney.

"I've never swam in the ocean," Keith admitted to Lance as he wondered for the fifth time in the span of a few ticks what his foot had just touched.

Lance moved closer to him and let a hand land on Keith's hip so he could pull him closer. "Then you need me to teach you how to body surf," he murmured in a tone that was truly unfair to Keith's ears considering they were not out here alone.

Keith exhaled a low growl in Lance's direction, his skin tingling where Lance's fingers were currently pressed against his skin.

Lance continued to tease, and he let his hands slide over Keith as they stood in the water, waiting for the best body surfing waves to jump in front of it. But Keith quickly got the hang of it and soon they were racing with Theo and Rosie to see who could get back to shore the quickest.

When they took a break from the water, Keith walked with Lance down the shoreline and admired the way the sun made Lance's skin glow. He watched Lance pick up interesting shells from the surf. Most he threw back, but he beamed as he presented Keith with a smooth, flat stone that was practically heart-shaped.

Keith kissed him in thanks, and then tucked the stone away in the small, zippered pocket of his swim trunks.

They returned to the others, spread out on their beach towels, and happily accepted the snacks Theo tossed them. Keith pulled out a book he'd found at the McClain house and began reading, only slightly distracted by repeated sighs from his boyfriend.

"Stop staring at it," Keith murmured without looking up from his book.

"Death bench," Lance muttered back.

"Only because you're currently refusing to show the community you're here and alive," Gabby said.

"I told you, I don't want —"

"I know, I know," Gabby said. "But you can't expect that whole set-up to disappear just yet."

"Think they'll take it away?" Rosie asked. "When they know?"

"They should leave it," Theo said, surprising everyone. "But instead of a memorial, they should turn it into a tribute. Like a hero bench."

That did get Keith's attention up and away from his book as he sent a small, half-grin to Theo before turning to see Lance's blue eyes light up at the idea.

"That's sweet, Theo," Gabby said, leaning over to ruffle his hair.

"We'd definitely get mamá and papá back out on the beach if it had a Lance tribute bench," Mark agreed. He finished packing sand in his bucket and then quickly flipped it over before lifting the bucket away to reveal a tall column for his sand castle. He gave his daughter a _ta-da_ face.

Laney giggled and stomped on it.

"That's payback for every time you ruined my sand art," Rosie said to him with a grin.

* * *

He'd let Keith sleep in, while he'd joined some of his family to make another big breakfast, and Keith had obviously rummaged through his dresser to find some clothes.

Because now he stood frozen and gaping at Keith in the center of the kitchen as his family bustled around him. Seeing Keith wearing one of his old soccer jerseys was something Lance hadn't realized he needed in his life until that very moment.

Keith's ears raised in question when he caught Lance staring and he glanced down at himself to see what could be the problem.

"Is this okay?"

"Lance, you're turning boyfriend blushing red again," Rosie sang as she poked at one of his cheeks.

"Yes, yup. Very yes," Lance responded to Keith's question and ignored Rosie. He moved around Gabby, who was smirking at him, and grabbed Keith's arm so he could drag him back towards the bedroom.

"Lance, what?" Keith struggled to not stumble over his own feet as he was pulled backwards and into Lance's room again. "I didn't think you'd mind if borrowed —"

Lance covered his mouth and kissed him hard in the middle of his room.

"So you're saying you like me in this jersey?" Keith asked a few moments later.

Lance nodded and let his eyes drift over Keith again.

"Do you like me in it because it has your name on it?" Keith asked dryly.

"Absolutely nothing to do with it, babe," Lance said, lying through his teeth and his too big smile.

Keith smirked back at him. "What if I told you I also played soccer in high school?"

Lance's eyes widened in interest. "Did you?"

Keith nodded. "For one or two of the high schools I went to. I mentioned it to Theo and he asked if I'd work with him on some passes out back later."

Lance beamed at him before he took his hand and began to lead him back to the kitchen. "You know what this means, right?"

Keith shook his confused head.

"We're bringing back soccer equipment! We'll turn one of those empty ballroom-like rooms into a soccer field. And we'll teach the others how to play! We'll have to be team captains, though, which means we'll play against each other, but," — he tugged Keith in close to kiss him before they reached the kitchen — "I'll try to go easy on ya, babe."

"Bring it on, McClain," Keith murmured before he kissed him back.

* * *

"Mami?"

Mora bit back a grin. She could already hear a request in Lance's voice. And, yes, those were puppy dog eyes he was batting at her when she turned around to face him. Dear God, she'd missed this boy.

"Lancito?"

"Can I borrow your car tonight? And maybe some money? Actually, scratch that. Borrow the car, but have the money? I won't be returning the money, so —"

"You don't receive compensation as a leg of Voltron, huh?"

"You mean other than the pride of a job well done?" he said with a grin. "No. No, I do not. I mean, there is a universal currency that Coran gives us sometimes when we stop different places for supply runs. But, uh, I doubt any Earth merchants will accept it."

Mora pulled a credit card from her wallet and handed it over. "My car keys are on the counter by the garage door."

"I'll try to pay you back at some point in the future." Lance kissed her cheek in thanks before tilting his head in thought. "Without a paycheck or a way to save up money, I guess it's a good thing we're introducing Earth to Voltron, otherwise my resume would look pretty sad when I came back and went looking for a job, right?" He looked back to his mother's face, and kicked himself when he saw the tears forming in her eyes.

"Lo siento, mamá." He pulled his mother into a hug and felt her squeeze him in return.

"Do you know when you'll be back for good?"

He shook his head against her hair and listened to her sniffle.

"You're leaving right before the big holiday season."

"Lo siento," he repeated. "Maybe next time we visit, we can request to be here for the holidays?"

Mora squeezed him tighter and let the sadness she tried to reserve for times when she was out of sight of the children overwhelm her for a moment as she took a few moments to just enjoy hugging her boy.

"You come whenever you're free," she offered, proud of the way her voice held strong despite the tears running down her face. Then she released him in order to meet his eyes. "I know what you're doing is important. But what's more important is that you come back to us."

"I know," he whispered in return.

* * *

He was a little shaken after his earlier conversation with his mamá — he'd been fairly sure she had been about to ask him to quit Voltron, and he honestly wasn't sure what he'd do if she'd made that sort of request of him.

He could feel Keith's eyes landing on him every few minutes as he drove them down the highway. He'd picked Keith's clothes out for him — a charcoal grey button-up with the sleeves rolled up Keith's forearms, paired a new pair of tight black pants, plus a new grey beanie hat that Lance had knit for him himself.

He looked adorable. And hot. And Lance told him so as they were seated at a table in a restaurant one town over from Lance's hometown.

"You get whatever you want on the menu tonight, babe." Lance hid his grin behind his own menu but didn't fail to see Keith's eye roll.

He'd been having a lot of fun with his family, but being on Earth gave them a chance to do something they didn't often get to do — go on a date. Moreover, even with Keith beside him day and night, he wanted a chance to be with just him for a little while. So he teased him over their dinner and Keith hooked his feet around Lance's ankles under the table. They got two very different dinner choices and then passed food back and forth across the table so they could try everything. And even though they were full by the end, they still ordered dessert, because there was no cheesecake in space.

After dinner, Lance told Keith he had more in store for their night out as he drove a few blocks over from the restaurant. He parked the car in a garage and slung his arm around Keith's shoulders as they walked down the sidewalk. Keith sent him a questioning look when they reached a club with loud music blaring through the doors, but Lance just ignored the line and dropped his name at the door, allowing them a fast entrance inside.

Although Keith still looked confused, he was happy to just be with Lance. So he twisted his fingers in with the fingers of the hand Lance had around his shoulders and let Lance direct them to the bar — where Mark and Gabby sat waiting for them.

Keith was slightly surprised by the relief he felt upon seeing the two eldest McClain siblings, which led to wondering exactly when and how he'd grown to feel so completely comfortable within this family. He glanced at Lance and Lance's smile — he was laughing at something Gabby was saying — and realized that as easy as Lance was to love, it was really no wonder that his parents and siblings would be the same. Where did Keith think Lance got the McClain charm from, anyway?

"Gabby worked here through college," Lance explained.

"So the McClain name is _always_ on the list at the front door," Gabby said with a smug smile. "Now, Lance, please tell me Keith knows how to dance."

"That's right," Mark added. "He can't be a McClain unless he can _move_!"

Keith was about to open his mouth to protest, but Lance just stuck his tongue out at his siblings before dragging Keith out onto the crowded dance floor. He pulled Keith close as he began to move those McClain hips — _good Lord they should be illegal_ — and Keith let himself be guided to mimic his movements.

"Sorry they crashed our date," Lance murmured from behind him as they continued to move together. "Gabby's request. She wanted us to hang at her favorite spot with her for a while. But you and I are going to the beach alone after this."

The words were spoken hot against one of Keith's covered ears and he felt his blood thrum happily. He began moving his own hips a little more enthusiastically and earned himself a small groan of appreciation from Lance.

"Definitely going to the beach alone," Lance murmured.

* * *

The small lantern-like flashlight Lance had brought with them to the beach provided nearly the only light for them, secondary to the moonlight. The sand beneath them was still warm from the earlier sun. And the sound of the ocean's incoming tide was soothing.

It was all very beautiful and relaxing. And Keith wasn't paying attention to any of it. He had Lance's skin beneath his hands and Lance's lips against his own and Lance's fingers alternating between gently combing through his hair and tugging it in retaliation for when Keith nibbled at his lips.

Blue eyes, hazy with love and pleasure, glittered up at Keith, providing the only light he really needed. And he didn't pay the sand much mind, except to adjust as it shifted beneath his knees, choosing instead to focus on how Lance's body fit gorgeously beneath his. And the backdrop sound of crashing waves was nice, but it just couldn't compare to the noises coming from Lance's throat.

Keith's grabbed the edges of the towel Lance was sprawled on and pulled, allowing him to shift Lance's hips upwards, and Lance responded by throwing his head back and groaning out his appreciation for the new angle. He gasped out Keith's name and tightened his fingers around Keith's arms, urging him closer. Keith's mouth chased after Lance's lips and he began to tease his blue paladin by slowing his movements. His hips began a lazy roll and he smiled into their kiss as Lance began to shift his own hips to try to urge Keith faster.

"Keeith," Lance groaned out.

"What, baby?" Keith whispered into his ear before he moved his mouth to the skin of Lance's neck.

Lance growled at him in response. He wrapped one of his legs — he knew how much Keith liked his long limbs — around Keith's hip and jerked him forward. They were both stark naked on his windy beach, and yet he didn't feel a chill with the heat that was coming from Keith, filling him up from the inside and leaving him dizzy with pleasure.

"Keeith," he said again, because it seemed to be the only word he currently knew as his fingers ran through Keith's hair and curled around his neck.

" _I've got you_ ," he heard Keith breath out, and then he was on fire inside and out as Keith's fingers gripped him tight while Keith's hips continued to rock into him. His own hips stuttered at the sensation as the heat threatened to consume him.

Keith watched his face closely, because he'd learned Lance's tells for when he was close, and when those beautiful blue eyes squeezed shut, he twisted his wrist and thrust himself deeper, the combination pushing Lance right over the edge with another cry of his name. He followed soon after — he'd been holding out for Lance — before he allowed himself to settle on their beach towel.

He kept his eyes on Lance's flushed face as they lay panting together. He wasn't sure if it was just his connection with Lance alone or his Galra genes that made him pull Lance closer. Something that told him there was a primal connection between them that said Lance was his and he was Lance's.

Lance was watching him with hazy eyes and a lazy grin before he spoke. "You look good on my beach, babe." His fingers roamed over Keith's back, tracing a pattern over his shoulder blades and then up and down his spine.

Keith's own hooded purple eyes roamed lazily over Lance as well before returning the grin. " _You_ look good on your beach." He leaned in to kiss Lance again. "All golden long-limbed perfection," he whispered, and Lance groaned lightly again and pressed forward to kiss him harder.

They stayed like that for a while before Lance shifted his gaze not towards the stars above them, but towards the waves that rolled in a few feet away from them, and then ventured to ask the question that had been on his mind the past few days.

"This would be okay, right?" His words were quiet as he kept his eyes on the water. "For future vacations from Voltron, I mean. It'd be okay to come back here? Visit the family? Play on the beach?"

Keith's ears flicked back and forth when the breeze brought sand near them. And instead of answering right away, he pulled his face away from Lance so that he could survey up and down the beach for a few ticks. Lance felt a moment of trepidation at Keith's hesitancy. But then Keith was looking at him with a mischievous glint in those dark eyes.

"Maybe after Voltron, too," Keith finally said.

"After?"

Keith nodded. "You wanted bacon from Earth pigs and a house on a beach, right? There's a grocery store nearby, so that takes care of the bacon. And you like this beach?"

"I _love_ this beach," Lance said with a continued lazy smile. "I have fond memories from when I was a kid, and now I have fond memories from five minutes ago."

Keith smiled as well. "Well then, lucky you, because I happen to be a guy who knows how to build a shack."

Lance nearly squawked. "I said a house, not a shack!" He shoved at Keith's shoulder, but Keith was unphased as he tilted his head back and appeared to survey the woods in the distance.

"I think our shack would fit really well between those trees over there," Keith added, his tone still completely serious.

"Don't think dropping the word _our_ in there is gonna make it sound endearing enough for me to actually live in a shack!"

"Not even if I build you a large bathroom?" Keith murmured, leaning in close to nudge against the side of Lance's face with his nose. "Put a little window above the bathtub so you can see the ocean?"

"I'm gonna show you the ocean," Lance growled.

Then, with a strength that made the earlier heat reignite in Keith's belly, Lance lifted Keith into his arms as he stood in one smooth movement. And Keith could only laugh as Lance charged the two of them into the salty water.

* * *

Keith stared at the box. He'd answered the door earlier when a delivery service had dropped it off. Mora thought one solution to their _space_ _food crisis_ was freeze dried food.

Keith wasn't sure he was on board with the freeze dried food idea. But he was going to politely accept it and thank her anyway.

Right now, however, he was more interested in the box the food had come in. It had been emptied and now sat innocently by the back sliding glass door. His ears flicked forward when he heard a nearby shuffling noise, but he didn't go to investigate. Instead, his head tilted as he glanced around the room. It was odd that there wasn't a single McClain in sight. But, given this opportunity, maybe he could just —

He moved across the room until he was standing over the box. Mora had seriously bought enough food to feed a weblum, and as a result the box was quite large. Large enough for him to —

He stepped carefully into the box and made a few turns, just to confirm that it was actually large enough for him. Plus, it was important to check for anything pointy or uncomfortable. He was just about to sit and decide which corner would be the most comfortable for his shoulder when he heard another shuffling noise nearby. This was followed by a thump and some _not at all_ inconspicuous giggling. He jumped out of the box and flew across the room so he could glare down at Lance, Theo, and Rosie.

After placing the empty box by the door earlier, all three had crouched behind the couch and waited for Keith to arrive. But they'd all fallen to their backs in laughter the second Keith had actually climbed into it.

"Ay por dios!" Theo repeated the phrase over and over as he practically clutched his chest with his laughter. His face — like Lance's and Rosie's — was bright red from trying to contain his laughter the moment they saw Keith first take an interest in the box.

Rosie wiped a few tears from her eyes. "Keith, that was the best thing I've ever seen. Please tell me you didn't know we were back here. Please, Keith."

Keith turned his glare to his traitorous boyfriend, who so far was still laughing way too hard to even allow his eyes to open in order to see Keith towering over where he was sprawled out on the ground.

"Space cat," Lance wheezed as he sat himself up and finally met Keith's angry face. "Oh, babe, don't have a cat-niption!" Lance exclaimed as he threw his hands up in his own defense.

Keith pounced on him.

* * *

"What is this place?"

"It's a gator farm," Theo said with what Keith now recognized as the _McClain family smirk_.

"Like an adoption center?" Keith asked as the family unloaded from their two separate cars.

"What?" Lance's head whipped around towards him.

"Aren't gators like Florida housecats? I kind of wondered why you guys had a dog and not a gator."

Gabby snorted and tried to cover it with a cough. The deadpan delivery of some of Keith's lines and the way Lance's face became so _Lance_ — eyes wide and mouth gaping, with the addition of his hands flying upwards — was something she was never going to tire of. She wrapped an arm around their mamá's shoulders when she saw her smiling at the two boys as well.

"No, they are not Flori — you know what, let's just go see the gators and make Theo happy." Lance grabbed Keith by the arm and pulled him towards the entrance, leading the others into what had been Theo's favorite place to visit as a kid, and therefore his choice for this particular family fun day.

They made it ten minutes into the park before Keith froze in his steps. His eyes widened and his hand scrambled in the air until it landed on Lance's bicep, allowing him to pull his boyfriend in closer as if he had a secret to tell him.

"I — _Lance_ — I need to sit on an alligator."

Lance turned his head to see the large gator Keith had spotted before his eyes returned to Keith's face, Keith's wide-eyed, awestruck, adorable-because-he-was-clearly-seeing-a-gator-in-real-life-for-the-first-time- _ever_ face.

Still, Lance looked appropriately horrified at the suggestion. "Keith, no."

"Keith, _yes_."

"Okay, babe, _one_ , no more repeating Theo's teen slang."

"Hey!" Theo called out from behind them.

" _Two_ , after defeating the badass that was Zarkon, I'm not about to lose you to some freak gator-mauling incident. And, _three_ , sitting on an alligator is something only the tourists do."

"I am a tourist." Keith's eyes didn't leave the magnificent creature in the enclosure next to them.

"No, you're an honorary Floridian now. And Floridians do not sit on the gators."

Keith's eyes were still glued to the gator. Lance wasn't even sure Keith was still listening.

" _Need_ , Lance."

"Come on," Lance said, pulling on Keith's arm to follow after his family. "We'll compromise and go to an alligator feeding show. They usually pass around a baby gator afterwards and you can hold it."

The gator feeding show, which Keith did enjoy immensely, was followed by Theo dragging them over to the airboats. And, somehow, Keith ended up on the first boat with Theo, Gabby, Mark, and Laney, while Lance had to wait for the second boat with his parents and Rosie. He hoped Keith was okay, but had fun nudging Rosie, and smiling at the way his parents held hands on the boat.

However, when their boat docked, he was immediately worried when he spotted _only_ Gabby standing off to the side waiting for them, especially when Gabby only smiled sheepishly at him and shrugged her shoulders.

" _De madre_ ," he muttered, low enough to avoid his mother's ears as he took off running towards the animal experience arena.

He spotted his brothers first and rushed to their sides, already anxious since Keith wasn't beside them.

"Where?" he demanded.

"Relax," Mark said with an eyeroll, and Lance wondered if _anyone_ _in the history of mankind had_ _ever relaxed_ _after being given that one-word instruction._ "It's called rookie wrestling." He adjusted Laney on his hip and grinned out to the sandy pit where Keith was currently standing.

"Keith!" Lance called out.

"Shhh!" Theo said. "He has to pay attention to the instructions. That's a nine-footer out there with them. You want him to know what to do in case it tries to roll, right?" Theo shot a grin over to Mark and Mark openly grinned back. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of them that teasing Lance was a fun hobby, and they should squeeze as much of it as they could into these few weeks they had with him.

"Not helping," Lance growled as Theo snickered. "I can't believe you brought him over here."

"Bip bip bip," Mark replied, a noise Laney quickly copied. " _He dragged us_ over here."

"If anything happens to his perfect face I'm killing both of you."

Theo laughed while Mark rolled his eyes.

"They let children do this, Lance," Mark said. "Let your boy have his fun."

"So you'd let Laney do this?"

"Pft. No way. That's a dangerous, wild animal."

Lance let his head fall to the fence in front of him. "I can't watch."

"You better watch," Ray said as he appeared behind the boys now that they'd finally caught up to Lance. "He's smiling in this direction."

That got Lance's attention and he quickly lifted his head to send a glare to his boyfriend. But goddammit if Keith wasn't the most adorable thing he'd ever seen standing out there in the sun, in another one of Lance's favorite t-shirts, with a small smile pulling at his lips. Keith even sent a small wave in the direction of the entire McClain family.

And instead of glaring, Lance only managed to sigh dreamily back. "He really is cute, isn't he?"

He didn't have to turn his head to know his family was tossing around fond smiles behind his back. He just pulled his phone out and proudly snapped a few pictures as Keith straddled the wide reptile and went through the motions of holding its jaws shut.

Although, he did manage to school a proper glare on his face when Keith rejoined them after his little adventure.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Lance said with arms crossed as Keith neared him.

"Not a scratch," Keith replied with a wide grin.

Honestly, it was a little unfair that the boy was that cute to begin with, but when he flashed those dimples at Lance — Lance was _done_.

"And nothing blew up," Keith added.

"Why would something blow up?" Theo asked.

"Things tend to blow up when Keith goes off on his — you know what? It's not important." Lance dragged Keith away from the animal encounter arena and vowed not to let Theo pick any more of their family outings.

Although, he maybe slipped into the gift shop before they left and bought Keith a gator farm t-shirt, which he decided to stuff into the boxes of clothes his mamá was packing for them. He'd surprise Keith with it once they were back in their room in the castle.

* * *

"Kitty!"

Keith's eyes slid across the room to where Mark sat on one of the couches reading a book.

"She's gonna miss you when you're gone," Mark said as he turned the page in his book. He glanced over at Keith and then nodded his head towards the bedrooms.

Half of Keith's mouth quirked up as he slid off his kitchen stool and headed back to Mark and Laney's room. He poked his head in the door and grinned when he spotted Laney standing up in her crib, face expectant for someone to come pick her up now that her nap was over.

"Kitty!" she said again as she bounced excitedly where she stood. Although, lifting her arms from the crib railing in order to reach for Keith knocked her off balance, and Keith chuckled at her surprised face as she fell to her bottom on the mattress.

Her fall didn't deter her from beaming a smile up at him as he lifted her from the crib, and Keith smiled hopelessly back at her for a moment. Apparently that bright McClain smile was just a given at birth.

* * *

"Hey, Rosie, have you seen Keith?"

"Yes," Rosie growled back at him with a glare while Mark snickered from where he sat feeding Laney a snack at the table.

"O-kay," Lance said with a lifted eyebrow. "Where is he?"

"He's on the front porch," Rosie bit out.

Lance turned towards his father, looking for an explanation for Rosie's irritation. Ray bit back a smile, for Rosie's sake, and clapped a hand on Lance's shoulder.

"Have I told you how much I like Keith?"

Lance beamed back at him. "He's pretty great, right?"

Rosie harrumphed behind him as Ray nodded and chuckled before he headed outside to check on the pool.

Lance turned back to Rosie and found her still glaring at him. "Okay, what?"

Rosie threw up an arm in order to point towards their front door. "He's sharpening his knife on the front porch, Lance!"

"And?" Lance asked slowly as Mark chuckled behind him once again.

"And Ayden is going to be here in like five seconds! Keith's doing it on purpose!"

"Why am I the last to know you're going on a date tonight!" Lance threw up his own hands before he crossed them across his chest.

And then Rosie watched Lance's bewildered look turn into a sly grin and knew she'd just made a tactical error. Clearly, with Lance gone, Mark lost in his own world, and Theo's apparent disinterest in her social life, she'd gotten rusty in her dealings with big brothers.

"It's not a date!" Her own hands were flying in the air now as she tried to backtrack. "It's a group of friends."

"But _only_ Ayden is coming to pick you up?"

Rosie sighed. "Will you please get your glaring, knife sharpening, alien-fighting boyfriend off the front porch?"

Lance began sliding towards the front door. "I would, Rosie, but ya know, my rifle isn't going to clean itself."

"Lance!"

With the front door open and one foot out on the porch, Lance continued. "Proper care and maintenance of our weapons is an important part of being a paladin."

"Lance, don't you dare!" Rosie charged after him, but he was already hopping out the front door, and Rosie didn't dare follow him outside for fear of drawing any more attention to the two males.

Lance grinned at Keith as he took a seat next to him on the small bench that was situated on the front porch. He pulled his bayard from his belt and activated it to reveal his rifle.

"You don't have any of your cleaning supplies out here," Keith muttered. He'd picked up a knife sharpening kit while they'd been out shopping with Mora the other day and he was quite happy with how shiny and sharp his knife was currently looking.

Lance let out a deep sigh and leaned back on the bench. His long legs splayed out in front of him as he let his rifle rest against his chest. "Not the point, my man. Although, I do like this intimidation sharpening routine you've got going on."

"Intimidation?" Keith asked innocently, glancing up at Lance with wide eyes.

"Yeah, the scary big brother vibe." Lance waved his fingers over Keith's general presence. "Wait, you did know Rosie had a date coming to pick her up, right?"

With Lance's eyes narrowing in suspicion, Keith couldn't hold his grin back any longer. "I just thought it would be important to remind this kid that Rosie's curfew is nine pm."

"It is not!" Rosie called from inside the house.

"Sorry," Keith called back, not sounding the least bit apologetic. "Eight-thirty."

"It's ten!"

"Seven-thirty!" Keith called back.

"That's not how this works! Mamá!"

Lance snickered and leaned over to plant a kiss on Keith's forehead.

* * *

"I'm not doing it," Mark called out to them from a back bedroom.

"Yes you are!" Rosie yelled back. "Get out here!"

"Stop yelling! I'm trying to put Laney in bed."

"Markos!" Gabby yelled even louder.

"Pulling out my full name isn't going to make me join in, _Gabriella_ ," Mark said as he walked into the kitchen and headed towards the fridge, blatantly trying not to look at where all of his siblings, plus Keith, were crowded together on the living room floor. They'd even shoved the couches back further to make more floor space for themselves and all of their blankets and pillows.

Theo rolled his eyes from where he sat. "Just go get your stuff, man. You know you're going to end up out here anyway."

Lance snagged two of Rosie's headbands and quickly used one to pull his own hair away from his face before he handed the other to Keith. Keith gingerly took it with his fingertips, but then stared at it as if Lance had just handed him something disgusting to eat.

Lance let loose a deep sigh and swiped the headband back in order to put it on Keith's head to hold those black, fluffy bangs back. Then he held out a hand towards Gabby, who promptly dropped a bottle of face cream into his palm, before sending a wicked smile in Keith's direction.

"Face masks first," Rosie said with her own grin in Keith's direction as she began applying the green cream over her own forehead.

Mark was watching the lot of them, and finally just sighed in resignation as he walked over to join them on the floor. He snagged one of Lance's extra pillows and shouldered Theo over a little for some floor space.

"I remember there being more room out here when we were little," Gabby said as she kicked at Mark's feet when they invaded her space. Her wide smile gave her away, though, even as she tried to sound like she was complaining.

Meanwhile, Keith sent sad eyes to Lance, which Lance completely ignored as he expertly spread the face cream over Keith's face.

"We only leave them on for like fifteen minutes, you big baby," Lance finally murmured to him as he sat back and began applying the mask to his own face.

With her own mask applied, Rosie tossed the bottle to Theo and then jumped up to head to the kitchen to start microwaving real popcorn — _Keith's mouth was already watering_ — while Gabby shifted to the movie cabinet in one of the room's built-ins and began calling out movie titles for them to choose from.

Keith leaned himself back against his pillow and watched Theo and Mark both grumble but also both apply their own face masks. They weren't really putting up much of a fight, though, and Keith wondered at what point in their childhoods did everyone just give into this McClain-family-sleepover-facemask rule?

By the time they'd settled on a movie and Rosie had returned with multiple bowls of popcorn, the facemask was tightening Keith's skin in a way that made him try to repeatedly scrunch up his nose just to feel like he still had control over his facial muscles. This went on for a minute or two before he turned to Lance in order to ask if this feeling of facial paralysis was normal. He found Lance already staring at him, and maybe the mask hid the color of his face, but his ears were a solid red color.

"You seriously look like a kitten with that nose thing, space cat."

Keith's eyes narrowed because dammit if Lance's eyes weren't slightly darker than normal and his voice had dropped into a deeper tone while they were surrounded by Lance's _siblings_ and there wasn't a _damn thing_ Keith could do about it.

Half of Lance's mouth quirked up in a grin — _how did he get his mouth to move so freely with this stuff trying to freeze all expressions?_ — before he rolled onto his back and fluffed his remaining pillows behind his head, leaving Keith to growl lightly at him before he was forced to do the same.

They washed off their masks a few minutes later, with Keith racing the others to the closest bathroom to get to the sink first. Then they settled into their pillows and blankets and watched a movie they'd seen a million times, which Keith noticed meant that several of the lines were said out loud.

" _Rabbit is good. Rabbit is wise."_

" _Mother of God."_

" _Jesus Christ."_

They threw popcorn at each other, but stopped at Keith's appalled reaction at the waste of perfectly good Earth popcorn. And since Gus-Gus was being kept back in their parents' room for the night, what with Keith sleeping openly on the floor, it also meant no puppy dog to clean up their mess.

Somewhere towards the end of the movie, Lance glanced around at his siblings and then kept his eyes on the television screen when he spoke up.

"I do miss you guys," he said in a low voice that captured everyone's attention. "I like the life I'm leading, and it's important, but I do miss you."

"You _know_ we've missed you too," Gabby said softly from where she sat propped on the other side of Keith. "But, I think it'll be easier now. Now that we know where you are and what you're doing. I mean, definitely a new level of worry, what with the fighting and battles. Plus, you've added a Keith to the equation and we'll have to worry and miss him too." Gabby sent Keith a grin and watched his face become slightly pink. "But I'll take all of that over the _not knowing_ from before."

Lance nodded at Gabby's words, hoping that the same would be true for his parents. He dug under the blanket until he found Keith's nearby fingers and then squeezed them for reassurance as he glanced over his shoulder to where Mark had settled.

Mark met Lance's similar blue-eyed gaze directly and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "You have a job to do. You just make sure your ass stays safe while you're doing it."

Mark was still angry. Lance could see it. Although, Lance hoped that the anger was no longer due to his sudden disappearance. He had a feeling the anger had shifted to the fact that not only was he not staying, but that this job he had to do was dangerous. Lance was okay with this type of anger from his big brother, though. And at least Mark was out here now. And he was talking to him. He hoped with time that they'd get to be as close as they'd been before.

For now, he offered Mark a half smile before his eyes moved to where Theo was camped out on Mark's other side. He didn't have to wait for long to see if Theo had anything to say about his place in Voltron.

"You bring _leg-endary_ honor to our family name," Theo said, barely managing to get the words out before he was doubling-over, laughing at his own joke and dodging popcorn missiles from Gabby.

"Oh my god," Keith whispered out as he flopped back on his pillow and threw an arm across his face.

Lance's mouth dropped open in happy surprise, though. "Keith! Tell Theo I've said that before! I told you that was funny!"

"No," Keith muttered. " _Two_ McClain brothers saying it does not make it funny."

"Amen to that," Gabby muttered beside him and Keith lifted the arm off his face only so he could receive a quick high five from Gabby.

Lance grumbled but finally turned his attention to the youngest McClain sibling. Rosie sat with her long legs pulled up and her chin resting on top of her knees as she eyed him.

"When we were visiting the castle, Pidge said with the new partnership or whatever with Earth, that you'd be able to open up communication?"

Lance nodded to Rosie. If Earth was a known Voltron alliance member, they'd no longer have to worry about their _No Contact with Earth_ rule.

"I bet Pidge'll have some sort of video chat or something set up pretty quick," he responded.

"So we'll get to see you? Talk to you?" Rosie pressed.

"I'd really like that, too." Lance's voice was tight and he felt Keith's thumb rub back and forth across the back of his hand.

"You too, Keith?"

Keith met Rosie's blue eyes briefly before he chanced a look around at the rest of the half-circle of siblings, each and every one staring back at him, waiting for his answer.

"Yeah," he said finally. "That'd be nice."

"Good, cause we want to hear from our favorite space cat-det, too!" Theo managed to say through laughter.

Keith threw a pillow at him. Then Gabby did too. Lance ducked his face into Keith's shoulder to hide his grin. Keith briefly wondered why he liked these people so much.

With all of that settled, and the first movie over, they put in a second. And then a third. Keith turned off the television later after he watched one McClain sib after another drift off to sleep around him.

Then he wrapped his borrowed blanket tighter around his shoulders in his spot in the dark room, quiet except for the breathing and light snores from some of its occupants. A moment later, Lance was pulling him into his arms, lining Keith's body up against his own and pushing his nose through Keith's hair until he found the back of his neck where he placed a noiseless kiss before his breathing evened out once again.

Keith had been happy here tonight. He felt safe, surrounded by this tribe of McClain siblings. And he could see that Lance had been happy too. Still, there was an added warmth in his chest at the knowledge that Lance still wanted him close. That as happy as his family made him, Lance still needed his arms wrapped around Keith in order to fall asleep. Keith's fingers found their place on the arm Lance had wrapped around his middle, and he sighed happily before drifting off to sleep as well.

And when Mora and Ray woke them all up the next morning with the noise that came naturally from brewing coffee and flipping pancakes, they may have also mentioned how smooth and shiny all of their complexions appeared to be.

* * *

"Why is it still so _hot_?"

"I can't believe my desert kitty is complaining about the heat."

"It gets cold at night in the desert," Keith replied, too hot to even complain about Lance's use of the word _kitty_. "Not like this place." He could feel a trickle of sweat run down his back. "The sun has been gone for almost an hour!" Keith threw his hands towards the darkened sky in protest.

Lance only chuckled again. "You're the _fire_ paladin."

"Apparently my tolerance doesn't apply to the hellish flames that preside over Florida."

"Kitty!" Laney said. She pulled on his hand and he obediently followed her up the walkway of the next house on the block. Once the doorbell had been rung, he took a small step back and watched the people inside make their way to the door.

"Awww, look at this little Blue!" the woman coo'd over Laney's costume before she glanced up at Keith. "And you brought Periwinkle with you?"

Laney grinned up at Keith. "Kitty!"

Keith did his best to keep his ears still as he grinned back down at her. He'd agreed to Gabby painting his face, which included purple stripes, a black nose, and whiskers, but hadn't done much more than wear a purple shirt over a pair of black shorts for his costume. And it was probably the face paint that had him overheating, but it was worth it to see Laney's excited face when they'd finally been dressed in their coordinating outfits and ready to go out tonight.

"Twick or tweat!" Laney said, all the hard work Keith and Lance had put into practicing that phrase with her paying off. She jiggled her small beach pail towards the woman and grinned as a candy bar was dropped in.

"And?" Keith prompted.

"Thanks!" Laney said over her shoulder as she reached for Keith's hand to get help climbing down the front porch steps before toddling quickly back to where Lance stood waiting.

Lance had on an orange shirt, which he'd adjusted by adding darker orange squares across his chest, and khaki shorts. Which meant he won the award for the easiest costume as Joe. And since he was also trying to keep a low profile from his neighbors, he'd added a baseball hat and hadn't gone up to the doors of any of the houses.

He didn't mind, though. He'd probably already taken at least fifty pictures of Keith and Laney trick or treating. Keith was adorable dressed up as the Blue's Clues cat. And he was adorable as he held Laney's hand as they walked up to each door. And he was adorable as he lifted Laney so she could ring the doorbells. And he was adorable as he grinned down at her when she proudly showed him the new candy from each house.

Basically Keith was _adorable_ with his tiny toddler niece. And it was one of the hottest things he'd ever seen. And when Keith and Laney returned from this last house, Lance scooped Laney up, while allowing darkened blue eyes to roam over his space cat. If he'd thought Keith's nose wiggle was cute when he'd had that face mask on before, it was nothing compared to him wiggling a nose that had a black triangle cat nose and whiskers added to it.

And when Keith met his eyes to ask if they were ready to head back, his steps actually faltered over the hungry look Lance had pinned on him.

"Stop that," he growled at Lance while throwing his hands around to indicate the gazillion children wandering around them on the streets.

"I think that's it, little Blue." Lance's voice was deeper than normal and he continued to keep his eyes on Keith as Laney tucked her head on his shoulder. "Time to go home and go to _bed_."

"You're the worst," Keith muttered as he felt a pull in his belly thanks to Lance's lingering looks and the promise in his voice. He refused to look at Lance for the remainder of the walk back to the McClain house. And once inside, he quickly disappeared to wash his face.

When he exited the bathroom, he headed towards the noise, which led him to most of the McClains, although not Lance, gathered around the kitchen island, picking through the pile of Laney's candy that they'd dumped across the counter top.

"You're stealing candy from a baby!" Keith said, honestly shocked as he watched even Mora munch happily on a mini Twix bar.

"Laney can't eat any of this candy, right Mark?" Rosie asked as Mark joined them in the kitchen after putting Laney to bed.

"Right," Mark answered as he scooped up a bag of skittles.

"Trust us, Keith," Ray said, "The only reason you take a one-year old trick or treating is for all the free candy."

"But — I wore purple face paint for her to get that candy!"

"That's why you get all the Reese's," Gabby said, using her arm to slide the small pile of _the good stuff_ over towards Keith.

"Better?" Theo asked with a grin.

Keith hoarded the Reese's pile towards himself and nodded as the others chuckled around the island. He even went so far as to scoop them up and turn towards Lance's room, intent on hiding them somewhere safe.

He made it two steps into Lance's room before the door shut suddenly behind him. Then the Reese's fell to the floor as Lance used his body to press Keith up against the door. His hands landed on Keith's hips, allowing his fingertips to tease warm skin under the hem of Keith's shirt. Immediately he rolled his hips against Keith, and swallowed Keith's surprised noise with a kiss.

"Pretty kitty," Lance murmured.

" _Lance_." Keith managed to whisper out his warning before he gasped when Lance's hips rolled against his own again. "We not — not in your parents' —"

"Uh uh, nope," Lance murmured as he kissed his way down Keith's neck and continued his slow hip grind. "Not waiting for everyone to go sleep so we can sneak out again."

Lance's hips alone were slowly killing him, and Keith could once again feel a yearning pull low in his belly. He was growing warm all over. And his breathing had already quickened. He bit back a groan and said, "You don't know how to be quiet."

The words came out of Keith's mouth like a dare and a competitive glint immediately sparked in Lance's eyes. Plus, if he thought Keith was hot and adorable earlier, that was nothing compared to Keith's dilated pupils and the flush that covered that pale skin. He rolled his hips against Keith's once more before leaning forward to whisper into one of Keith's ears.

"Don't worry, babe. My mouth is gonna be busy. You're the one who's gonna have to be quiet." Then he dropped to his knees as his hands went after the buckle on Keith's belt.

And as Keith gaped down at his beautiful boyfriend, an expression that soon morphed into pleasure even with his lips pursed shut, he decided to throw out the old rule.

He'd never backed down from a challenge from Lance after all.

* * *

Allura and Shiro piloted a small shuttle and quickly picked up the rest of the paladins the morning of the scheduled meeting with the officials at the Galaxy Garrison. Lance had promised his family that they'd only be gone for the day, although it was a small consolation given that they'd be returning only long enough to pack up and say goodbye.

The paladins lined up inside the assembly hall at the Garrison, each wearing their armor which Allura and Shiro had graciously packed for them. Allura was quick to introduce herself as a native of planet Altea, and Lance could see many of the officials sending confused looks at Keith and Keith's fluffy ears. But as the Voltron _promotional_ _video_ played, it was actually quite gratifying to watch the expressions on some of the Garrison's officials' faces shift from disbelief to shock to outright awe.

They almost couldn't sign the alliance agreement fast enough.

Shiro smiled at the sight before murmuring over to Keith who stood next to him. "I thought I was going to be uncomfortable at this meeting, but I have to say that watching you glare non-stop at Iverson is quite distracting and entertaining."

"You're welcome."

"It's kind of like having a rottweiler next to me."

"Don't compare him to a _dog_ , Shiro," Lance murmured from Keith's other side. But before Keith could be touched by his boyfriend's protective concern, Lance opened his mouth again. "What's a really scary cat?"

Keith sighed but didn't let it break his focused glaring attention at their former commanding officer.

"Keith's more like a —" Lance thought for a moment, "— ooh, a puma!"

Shiro nodded in instant agreement. "Yes. I feel like I have an attack puma next to me."

"He deserves all my glares," Keith stated simply.

Both Shiro and Lance had to look away from Keith before their smiles got out of hand and they began to actually laugh during this Very Important Meeting.

"And since I'm very mature," Keith said in a voice that dared either of them to argue with him, "I'm not going to go over there and tell him _I told you so_."

"But you're thinking it," Lance said in a quiet sing song voice.

"It better be coming across in my glares, actually."

* * *

After the successful diplomatic Garrison meeting, Lance and Keith were delivered to their beach, allowing them to enter the McClain house through the back door. Important because his mamá had sent a message that there were several crews from local and national news stations camped out on the front lawn. They were calling out for interviews with Voltron's blue paladin, and had forced Ray and Mora to make sure all the front windows were adequately concealed.

Mostly the noise out front was ignored, however, as the family solemnly began making several trips back and forth between the house and the beach with all of Lance and Keith's new supplies. And when Red arrived to bring them back to the castle, the family members all said a polite hello to this new lion before they began to carry the boxes up the ramp.

And if his parents and siblings were being especially slow as they loaded Red up, Lance didn't comment. He wasn't walking all that fast himself. He hated goodbyes. But, as he watched Keith hug his family members, and then began the hugging cycle himself, he reminded himself to be thankful to be given the chance to say goodbye this time around.

Keith got an extra hug from Laney, and even let her grab and tug on his ears for a minute before he handed her back to Mark. Then he climbed up Red's ramp, leaving Lance alone with his family for a few minutes.

Mark's hug was extra tight, a little more sincerely affectionate than the one he'd received when they'd first been reunited. "You get back to it," Lance murmured to him. "Job. Your own place."

"Yeah, I will," Mark murmured in return. He handed Laney over to Lance for a hug as well.

"I don't even know how big she'll be before we're back."

"You'll see her in the video chat thing," Mark said as Lance handed Laney back. "We'll talk."

Lance nodded before pulling Theo into a hug. "Listen here, Theo, with me and Mark out of the house, you better pay more attention to who Rosie is going out with."

"Hey!" Rosie said, as she pulled Lance into a hug. "I heard that."

"I meant it," Lance said with a grin before he moved onto Gabby. "Thank you, Gabs," he whispered to her. "This would've been much worse without your support."

Gabby swallowed over the lump in her throat and nodded as she squeezed Lance back. "I'll miss you."

His eyes were welling up as his mother squeezed his face between her hands.

"You remember what I said," Mora told him.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Lance managed.

Then his papá pulled him into a hug and he dropped his chin to his father's shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut when his father began to speak.

"I would've searched for you forever," Ray said, practically choking out the words. He thought about how the man in the blue paladin armor had once been the cheeky little boy he'd taught to swim. "But please don't get lost up in space," he said with a chuckle, doing his best to lighten the mood as he pulled away from Lance in order to scrub at his eyes. "I won't even begin to know how to search for you if the universe is really as big as you say."

Lance nodded furiously as he swallowed over the lump in his throat.

"And you take good care of that space cat of yours."

"Yes, we like Keith."

"Good," Lance said, his voice already hoarse from his attempt to keep his tears away. "Because I'm going to marry him."

"You marry him in space without us there and I will kill you," Mora warned with a finger wag in Lance's direction.

"Oh, come on, mamá!" Lance's mouth spread into a grin as he watched his family members begin to smile when they heard his teasing voice. He stepped up onto Red's ramp and then began walking backwards so he could continue to watch his family as he spoke. "Think of what a cool elopement story that would be!"

" _Lance_!"

" _Oh and where did you get married_?" Lance said in a mock voice of someone else asking, before switching back to his own voice. "Uh, space!" Lance waved his arms towards the sky with a laugh.

Then he stilled at the top of the ramp, taking just one more moment to stare at his family's faces. This trip hadn't started out the way he had hoped, and he hated that he had been the cause of such pain for his family. He knew Mark was still not entirely happy about this whole thing — neither were his parents — but they weren't stopping him, and he was grateful that they trusted him to do what was right.

For now, there were tears, but overall everyone looked happy as they waved him off. He sent them a salute and watched as Keith appeared beside him in order to offer his own wave. Then the ramp closed behind him and he pulled Keith into a tight hug that Keith was quick to reciprocate.

"You okay?"

Lance tightened his arms around Keith but he nodded his head against Keith's soft hair.

"We'll try to talk to them soon?"

"Yeah, okay," Lance said quietly as he pulled away so that Keith could move to take his seat in the pilot's chair. Lance leaned over the console, allowing him a view of his family out of Red's eyes.

Keith glanced up at Lance and waited for a nod before he directed Red into the air. And when his family became too small for him to see, Lance slid to the ground with his back to the controls so he could face Keith.

"I already miss them."

Keith reached a hand out for Lance to hold, which Lance gratefully accepted. "Me too."

"Have I mentioned how grateful I am to have you?"

"Same," Keith replied softly. "Thanks for taking me home with you, Lance."

"Your home too now, babe."

Keith could feel his heart speed up. He locked his eyes with Lance's blue ones. "I love you."

Lance's smile lit up his face and he shifted to his knees so he could wrap his arms properly around Keith before pulling him into a kiss. "Love you, too," he murmured against Keith's lips.

"But, Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"We are _not_ getting married in space."

A new teasing grin took over Lance's features. "Oh, come on, babe!"

"No way."

"Why not?"

"Because I'll bet you all of our newly acquired microwavable popcorn that your mamá sends me a message _sternly requesting_ that we get married on Earth."

Lance could only chuckle in response. Keith was likely correct.

"I bet she sends it even before we make it back to the castle," Keith added.

Lance smiled at his favorite space cat, touched that Keith would worry about disappointing his mamá. And when Keith caught the soft smile on his face, he began tugging on Lance until Lance was off the floor and actually straddling Keith's lap in the pilot's seat.

"But you are gonna marry me, right?" It was whispered slowly with blue eyes that were darkening as they roamed over Keith's face.

Keith covered Lance's mouth with his own for a kiss before whispering back, "Can't wait."

* * *

 **Author notes** :

1\. Again, the translations (or feelings) that were meant to be expressed in this chapter:

Ay por dios _–_ oh my God

Lo siento – I'm sorry

 _De madre_ – deep frustration

2\. kurosaki_ami had sort of wondered at the end of MMYH what would've happened if Lance DID leave a box out for Keith, and I thought that sounded like a fun bonding experience for Lance and some of his sibs. (And it was). Plus, Lance dragged that box into their bedroom later and let Keith have his fun out of sight from everyone else. Unfortunately, they couldn't bring it back to the castle with them, because Lance followed Keith into the box (cause space cat!Keith in a box was too adorable for him to withstand) and they broke the box. I hope you enjoyed this bit, kurosaki_ami!

 _3\. Twister_. They watched _Twister_ first on sibling sleepover night. One of my all-time favorites. And I definitely say those lines out loud. Every. Single. Time.

4\. Also, LightlySaltedKira and callietwinkly pointed out a missed pun opportunity in MMYH with "space catdet". And while Lance had quit calling Keith "space cadet" by the time the ears appeared, I still had to include it this time around. Thanks, guys!

5\. Just in case it wasn't clear, Laney dressed up as Blue from the children's television show, "Blue's Clues" for Halloween, while Keith was Blue's friend Periwinkle (a purple cat), and Lance was Joe (sorry Steve fans).

6\. If you enjoyed this and would like more (especially if you'd like to see Keith and Lance get hitched), I wrote a 3rd part to the series entitled, "Choosing Home"


End file.
